Dragon Nation
by PurifierofChaos131000
Summary: Henry "Hiccup" Haddock is just your average 15 year old. Until he gets summoned to another world filled with Vikings and dragons warring against an ancient evil, and that he is "The Final Rider" the only one who can stop the evil. But with the help of new friends ( and a couple of fire-breathing reptiles) he might live up to his destiny.
1. Prolouge

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello fanfic readers, in case you haven't figured it out, (now imagine this in a deep booming voice), I AM THE ONE WHO PURIFIES, hahahaha. I'm sorry, I can never keep a straight face when I do that. So, this is my first story, so please be gentle with the criticism. I'd appreciate it if you guys keep it nice and gentle. Anyway, this idea has been in my head for a while. This story is based on a TV series called "Magi-Nation". It was my favorite show when I was 7, so I decided to make an AU where HTTYD characters were in the story instead. If you want to understand the backstory, then watch a little bit of the show. One last thing, and I pretty much have to do this part.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, (except any OCs and the idea to write this story), but other than that, nothing. Any way here we go!**

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Prologue

" _In all the known worlds, and all the known lands, even yours, each society strives for order and balance. My world, The Barbaric Archipelago, is no different."_

As the narrator speaks, imagine yourself floating through space, until you stop at one different than the others. This is The Barbaric Archipelago he speaks off, named for the fact the world is a giant archipelago, consisting of multiple islands that make it up. Now, the reason for the 'Barbaric' part of the name comes from the people that inhabit the world: Vikings and Dragons.

" _Long ago, a darkness tried to consume the light of the archipelago, almost succeeding, if not for a power that it would never understand. This is where our story begins."_

* * *

On an icy island, known as Dragon Sanctuary Island, a battle was taking place. Warriors on both sides clashed their weapons. Above, armored dragons fought claw to claw with each other, trying to knock each other out of the sky. Off the coast was an armada of ships, firing at the other side. But the really important battle was between the leaders of the two sides.

"So, this is best you could do, a few dragons against my army. You are no match for me" said a man with a dark and deep voice. This man is Drago Bludvist. He is tall, with a dark and menacing look, with scars covering himself, with black dreadlocks for hair. He wears dragon skin clothing, with a cloak of black scale cloak, hiding a metal arm. He carries a bull hook with him, which he uses to enslave and control his dragons. He is without conscious or mercy, only caring about his own goals and ambitions of world domination.

"Well, it takes more than numbers to win a fight" replies his opponent. This is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, chief of the island of Berk. He opposes Drago's beliefs, and has been trying to stop him for twenty years.

"Even so, I will win" answers Drago before turning around, and begins to wave his weapon and shout. His opponent knows what he is doing; calling his dragon. From underwater it emerges, a Bewilderbeast, the largest dragon in the world. It is as dark and menacing as his master, with large tusks and scars all over it. It roars after emerging, staring at the two humans.

Drago turns to his opponent and says "You think you can defeat me, I am a god, and I will not have my plans be stopped by a weak, scrawny mortal who should be kneeling before me." Unfazed, Hiccup replies "whoa, someone's full of themselves aren't they", trying to sound positive, despite the fact the Bewilderbeast could crush him. "Well, thank you for the vote of confidence", he says as if he knew someone we doubting him. Drago smirks, and says in a menacing voice, "I'm going to enjoy destroying you, and seeing your army give in to my inevitable victory." He then points his staff at Hiccup, signaling his dragon to fire its ice breath at his enemy. Just as it was about to fire, a high pitched shriek filled the air, and soldiers on the battlefield all get down, with few saying:

" **NIGHT FURY!"**

" **GET DOWN!"**

A fire blast hits the bewilderbeast, causing small explosion near the dragon's eye. A few more blasts hit it. Drago starts to yell at his enslaved pet, screaming, **"FIGHT BACK! FIGHT!"** The bewilderbeast, fearing his master's wrath, proceeded to fire ice blast in multiple directions, missing the Night Fury every time, but doing damage to the soldiers and other dragons. Out of fear, the bewilderbeast retreats back into the sea, while its master screams **"GET BACK HERE!"** Hiccup, looking smug himself, says "This is something you will never understand. The bond between people and dragons, will always win." Drago turns back to Hiccup, his face seething with rage. Hiccup, unaffected by the look on Drago's face, continues "Let this end, now Drago." **"NO"** , Drago screams back, before charging at his enemy, shouting at the top of his lungs. Already predicting his foes move, Hiccup draws his sword and blocks Drago's attack, knocking him back, losing his staff in the process. Drago, upon seeing the sword, actually flinches after seeing it more closely.

The sword looks simple, with a silver blade and a gold hilt. On the hilt is a green crystal, with a carving of a dragon on inside it, glowing in a blue light. Hiccup, after seeing Drago's face, looks at Drago and says, "What, jealous that I found the Dragon Blade first?" Drago the proceeds to get angrier and tries to pick up his weapon. But before he could, a blast hit the staff, destroying it. Drago looks up and sees a shadow descend and lend next to Hiccup. The shadow was that of Wodensfang, Hiccup's best friend and one of his bonded dragons. "Took you long enough bud" Hiccup says in a playful way.

"Well, this is the last time I save your life" Wodensfang says, trying to sound offended. Before Hiccup could reply back, Drago once again tries to attack, but this time with just the sharp end of his staff, aiming right at Hiccup's heart. However, before anyone could even attempt to move, Drago was stopped, frozen in place. Hiccup and Wodensfang, confused, look behind Drago and see eight strange lights, appearing to be holding Drago back. The red one at the center, says "We will hold him for as long as we can, do what must be done."

Hiccup, understanding what he has to do, nods. He turns to Wodensfang, and reaches into his saddle bag, grabbing what he needs, a book. It has a brown cover, with silver detailing and a dragon at the center. Embedded in the cover are eleven stones surrounding the dragon, each with a different color. This is the Book of Dragons, a powerful item with secrets only those deemed worthy can read.

Drago, who was already struggling to break free from the magic that binds him, tries harder upon seeing the book. One of the lights, a black and white one, says, "Hurry, we can't hold him much longer," struggle ringing in the voice. Hiccup, stares toward Drago, appearing to have not heard the voice, says to him "This is to be your fate. Glyph, be the key."

At that moment, the stones on the Book of Dragons started to glow. Keeping his focus, Hiccup continued speaking, "Rise up, Gems of the Dragons and imprison the darkness where it can do no harm, rise up and seal Drago in the Core." As he spoke, the cover of the book rose up, and turned into a multi-colored sphere of light, known as The Glyph. When Hiccup finished speaking, The Glyph shined brightly, blinding everyone on Dragon Sanctuary Island. Drago, could be heard screaming **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

When the light stopped shining, Hiccup looked, and was greatly relieved by what he saw. Drago and his forces were gone. Not a single soldier, enemy dragon or ship was left. "Wahoo, we did it, we won, we finally beat him" Hiccup shouted gleefully, with Wodensfang and the eight lights joining him. A blue one in particular was saying "We kicked Drago's…", but was cut off by a magenta light who said, "Okay we get it, no need to go there." "You never let me have any fun." The blue light commented back. The two then proceeded to talk over each other, with the only understandable things being "Mom always liked you best" and "Well at least I don't charge into battle willy-nilly." "Alright that's enough, break it up you two." Said a yellow light, clearly annoyed by the antics of the other two.

Wodensfang, looking at his partner simply said "Fairies, can't live with them, but you can't fight evil without them." Hiccup chuckled at his best friend's comment, "Yeah", he said. A green one came up to him, saying "This isn't the end, I can foresee that Drago will return." "Stop being so doom and gloom" said a light-purple one. The last of the lights, well fairies, said in an almost princess like tone of voice, "He's right, this is a time for celebration." Hiccup smiled and said "Yes, tell the soldiers to start finding their dragons and head back too Berk." The fairies nodded (don't ask how glowing orbs of light can nod) and went to tell the soldiers.

After the fairies left, Hiccup's smile disappeared, and was replaced by a look of worry. Curiously, Wodensfang asked "Do you really think Drago will return? I mean, if he does we'd have lost the only things to stop him."

Hiccup turned to me, and said "Maybe, and hey, we found the Dragon Blade and the gems before, we could do it again." The dragon nodded, hoping Hiccup was right. They turned their attention to a rising sun, wishing that Drago would remain sealed until the end of time.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO THERE'S THE FIRST CHAPTER. SO JUST TO CLEAR THINGS UP**

 **1: THE HICCUP IN THIS CHAPTER IN HICCUP THE 1ST, NOT THE 3RD.**

 **2: THE EIGHT FAIRIES THAT APPEARED AS LIGHTS ARE**

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 **NOT GONNA BE REVEALED UNTIL LATER. Sorry**

 **3: FOR THE RECORD, WODENSFANG WASN'T SPEAKING DRAGONESE LIKE IN THE BOOKS AND BEFORE YOU GET INTO A RANT, LET ME EXPLAIN:**

 **I AM PUTTING MAGIC AND SOMEOTHER THINGS I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL IN. THE REASON I'M NOT TO PUTTING DRAGONESE IN IS BECAUSE, EVEN THOUGH I LOVE THE BOOKS IS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FEEL REALISTIC. DON'T GET ME WRONG, CRESSIDA COWELL HAD A LOT OF FUN IDEAS, BUT THIS IS THE ONLY ONE I FIND KINDA OUT THERE. THE REASON WE CAN SPEAK ANY HUMAN LANGUAGE IS BECAUSE OUR VOCAL CORDS HAVE EVOLVED TO SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE, SO SPEAKING A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE NOT DEVELOPED BY HUMANS IS NOT POSSIBLE. SO ANY DRAGON SPEECH WILL BE IN NORSE (YES THEY SPEAK NORSE).**

 **4: IF DRAGO SEEMED A LITTLE OOC, LET ME SAY THAT I HAVE A HARD TIME WRITING INSANE TYRANT CHARACTERS. IF HE DIDN'T FEEL OOC, THAN IT'S JUST IN MY HEAD.**

 **5: THIS WAS GOING TO BE PART OF THE FIRST CHAPTER, BUT IT WAS TOO LONG SO I MADE IT A SEPARATE PART.**

 **LASTLY, DON'T EXPECT AN UPDATE EVERYDAY, I'LL UPDATE WHEN I UPDATE. SO REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED, AND I'LL SEE YOU NEXT UPDATE.**


	2. Chapter 1 (The Final Rider)

**Hello People (an audience starts throwing food at me and booing, so I said "Now calm down." When that didn't work, I screamed "BE QUIET OR I WILL SICK A DRAGON GOD ON ALL OF YOU!" Needless to say, it worked.)**

 **Anyway, sorry it took a while, I was figuring out how to post a second chapter, (Someone in the audience calls out "Everyone knows how to do it", so I zap him with laser eyes. "Anyone else? Good.") So, before we begin I forgot to mention a few things last chapter. First, I said that Wodensfang is one of Hiccup the 1** **st** **"bonded dragons", what I meant was that the characters will be able to have multiple dragons (someone asks "How?") I will sort of explain that in the next chapter. Second, the Dragon Blade, that isn't from the books, I put that in there because, well what story is complete without a magic sword (For once the audience doesn't react loudly, they just mumble in agreement, like one of those TV background characters who just sit there and react). Lastly, and this is just to clear up any confusion from the last chapter, the setting IS the Bewilderbeast Nest, I just had to call it something else because that was centuries before, well, any of the main characters, and I wanted to give it a proper name.**

 **And now,**

 **I OWN NOTHING (EXCEPT O/Cs and the idea to write this)**

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Chapter 1: The Final Rider part 1

 _Earth, Centuries after the Fight with Drago_

"Okay, that should be done" said a voice that sounded around fifteen. Carefully, he grabbed a pot holder, and took a pizza out of the oven. He cut it up evenly and placed two pieces on a dish before grabbing a glass of water and proceeding to leave the kitchen of his home.

This boy is Henry, or as his mother nicknamed him "Hiccup" (she said that he would often hiccup when he was little, and she said it so often that it just stuck), Haddock, why his last name is a fish is beyond him. He has green eyes and reddish brown hair, making him the spitting image of his mother, Valerie, or as her friends called her, Valka. Why that is her nickname is beyond him as well.

She runs an animal shelter across the street from their house, which she opened a year after he was born, filled with all kinds of animals. Henry never knew how his mother was able to open a business when he was young, because from what she told him she was dirt poor a few months before he was born. Of course, he didn't know a lot about her before he was born, she never talked about it, but one day he did get some kind of answer

* * *

 _Flashback, seven years ago_

 _Valka awoke with a fright, which for a single mother raising a kid that started screaming in the middle of the night, was very concerning. She rushed to her son's room, and found he was standing up in his bed, taking deep breathes and looking like he was gonna cry. She walked to him and said "Hiccup, what's wrong?" He looked at her, "I had a nightmare" he said. Maternal instincts taking over, Valka began to comfort her son, stroking his hair and saying things like "it's okay, it was just a dream" and "Mommy's here". When he started to calm down, she asked "What happened in the dream."_

 _Looking up at his mother, Hiccup said "There was a man, he was so scary." He rested is head against her chest, not noticing a look of concern on her face. "Well, then it's a good thing he isn't real." She said with a tone that implied she was hiding something, but being young, Hiccup didn't pick up on it._

" _So, you think you can go to back to sleep?" Valka asked. Hiccup wiped his nose, and shook his head no. Valka thought for a moment, but then came up with an idea, "Well how about I sing you a song, will that help?" Hiccup nodded yes that time. Valka started to tuck her son back into bed, and began to sing._ **(Impromptu A/N: I THINK YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT'S COMING)**

" _I'll swim and sail on savage seas,_

 _With ne'er a fear of drowning,_

 _And gladly ride the waves of life,_

 _If you would marry me._

 _No scorching sun or freezing cold, will stop me on my journey,_

 _If you will promise me your heart, and love me for eternity"_

 _Looking at Hiccup, and seeing how he was about to go back to sleep, she stopped singing. "Where did you learn that song mommy?" he asked. Smiling, she told him "It was something your father and I always loved, it was our song." "What was he like" said Hiccup, who looked like he was starting to wake back up. Valka opened her mouth to tell him it was late, but instead she said "He was brave, and strong, a bit stubborn, but he always protected those he cared about." Before Hiccup could say anything "It's late and you have school tomorrow, besides the writer has to get next part of the story." Confused at what his mother just said, Hiccup merely closed his eyes and said goodnight._

 _Heading out of the room, Valka grabbed the door knob, and looked at her sleeping son one last time. "Oh, Hiccup, if only I could you tell the truth" was all she said before closing the door._

* * *

 _Return to the present_

Hiccup opened the door to his mother's room, and saw her reading before seeing him. She had started to get ill recently, so he had to start taking care of her and work at the sanctuary (not to mention take care of the pets in the house). "We didn't have any sausage so I had to go with Hawaiian if that's okay." "It's fine dear, besides I haven't been able to do much shopping lately," she said trying to stay positive. Suddenly, a small black cat jumped on the bed, momentarily surprising the both of them.

"Don't worry bud, I filled your bowl downstairs" Hiccup said to Toothless. He had been Hiccup's best friend since the day after his nightmare. The other pet in the house was Cloudjumper, Valka's owl. The two animals were opposites of each other; Toothless is unusually very active for a cat and constantly showed affection, while Cloudjumper was stoic and acted like the man of the house.

"So, you ready for tomorrow?" asked Valka. Tomorrow was a school art show, and Hiccup work was featured as some of the best. Not to mention a pretty good cash reward. "A little nervous but yeah" Hiccup answered back. Reaching into an open drawer at her nightstand, Valka grabbed a sketchbook that Hiccup got for his birthday when she found out how good he was at art.

She opened the book and flipped the pages until she stopped at her favorite sketch. "Remember the first one you drew?" she said before showing him the picture. It was a creature that resembled a cross between a black panther and a dragon. Under the image were the words _"Night Fury"_ which was what he called his creation.

"Yeah, it was weird. I felt like I'd seen it before, like it was with me since as long as I can remember" he answered back. "Well, sometimes we know things even before we realize it" his mother said.

* * *

 _Somewhere far from Earth_

" _Peace. That is all we have known throughout the many islands of the Barbaric Archipelago. For 300 years, Drago has been trapped in The Core, and we on the surface, have lived together, in peace. But as I sit here on Berk, I sense that trouble is brewing."_

As the voice speaks, just outside the Library of Berk, an ancient building that has been around since Hiccup the 1st's time, a person wearing a cloak opens a window on the top floor. The figure enters, making sure no one heard him, and starts walking towards what he seeks.

Meanwhile, inside the library was, well no one remembers his name, so they call him Old Wrinkly. He is the father-in-law of the chief, and was in charge of keeping the library in order. He sits at his desk, and continues writing in his journal.

" _A time of peace is coming to an end."_ Suddenly, the candles lightning the room went out. "Who's there" Wrinkly asks to no one, but he knows somebody is there. With a sense of caution, he grabs his staff and begins searching for the intruder. Unknown to him, the trespasser was hiding behind a shelf. Looking around, the unwelcomed guest sees that the coast is clear, and heads to the painting on the wall behind Wrinkly's desk.

The painting was a family portrait of Wrinkly and his family. In the picture was the Chief of Berk, Stoick the Vast, along with his wife, Wrinkly's younger daughter. Standing next to Wrinkly was Valhallarama, his older daughter. She was a great hero amongst the tribe, and is often away questing, coming home only on rare occasions. To Stoick's right was his younger brother, Baggybum, who was a skilled warrior and was considered very funny, but wasn't the sharpest axe in the armory. In fact their father had often said that Baggybum was an "acceptable son", but would be "a horrible chief". They all looked happy, except one: Spitelout Jorgenson.

Spitelout was the middle child between Stoick and Baggybum, and their half-brother. Why only half, no one's allowed to talk about it. Unlike the wise and powerful Stoick or the dumb yet funny Baggybum, Spitelout was egotistical and believes "Only the strong can belong to the Hooligan Tribe", the motto of his clan. He had had often proclaimed that he would be the greatest chief in the history of Berk, despite the rules saying only a 'pureblood' son can be the heir, so to speak.

So when the three brothers were teens, their father made an arrangement, should Stoick, his heir, be unable to provide his own heir, than Spitelout's child shall be the heir to the chiefdom of Berk after Stoick. As luck would have it, the chief's wife disappeared a few months before Stoick's heir could be born.

The burglar carefully lifted the painting off of the wall, and sees the object of his desires: The Book of Dragons, behind a layer of glass. After Drago's defeat, the book was passed down through Hiccup the 1st's bloodline and placed in the library, awaiting the one destined to defeat Drago forever, and be known as the greatest dragon trainer in the history of the archipelago; The Final Rider. Slowly, the cloaked figure reached out for the book when suddenly….

"Unmask yourself" cried Old Wrinkly, whose staff started glowing because off an illumination Spell. Accepting capture, the thief lifter the hood of the cloak, revealing a girl with blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. "Astrid, what are you doing, sneaking in here like a thief in the night?"

Astrid was the best young warrior in the village, and as a Hofferson, was very honorable. So seeing her break into one of the oldest building in the village was a surprise.

"A thief is someone who takes something from someone else, with the intention of keeping it. I wasn't going to take anything", Astrid says haste fully, trying to answer Wrinkly's question. She starts breathing heavily, even though see is a warrior, she still needs to breathe.

"Calm down" Wrinkly states. Still out of breathe, Astrid says "I'm trying….. I can't." "Focus, take deep breathes, it'll help control your adrenaline levels." Wrinkly wheezes, trying to help Astrid. She heads his advice, and begins to calm down. "Better?" "Hm-hmn."

* * *

 _Back on Earth_

Valka reached back into the open drawer, and says "I've got something for you." She pulled out something from it; a strange ring. The bands resembled serpents, and the stone on it was a jet black stone with blue highlights. To say that Hiccup had never seen anything like it would pretty much summarize the look on his face.

"This has been passed down in the family for years, and it's only given to members who prove themselves worthy" she said before placing the ring in his hand. "Worthy, that sounds a little farfetched." Hiccup stated with a puzzled look. "That is anything _but_ true, you're an A+ student, and you take care of me and all the animals at the shelter. You've always accepted your responsibilities when you could have avoided them, but you didn't. That takes someone kind and brave, someone truly worthy."

* * *

 _Back on Berk_

"You're here to read the Book of Dragons." Wrinkly states without even guessing why Astrid was here. You didn't have to be one of the smartest people in the village to know that the prophecy of the Final Rider states that it would be a young warrior with Berkian blood.

"Just to read it, not to take it" Astrid replies back. "So technically I'd be a thief of knowledge, and you've always said that you should never stop learning." Old Wrinkly, not amused, said "Lass, you're starting to sound like Fishlegs, always pestering me to open the Book of Dragons." "Well could you blame me?" Astrid asked, "What's the point of having a book in a library if you can't read it. Sounds like a waste of a good book to me." "The Book of Dragons is to be read by the Final Rider, only he is worthy to decipher what is written inside" said Wrinkly, trying to gently tell Astrid that she was wrong.

"Well," Astrid began, "What if 'he' is a 'she' and that 'she' is me." "She is me is he is, your, your giving me a head ache" Wrinkly says, clearly annoyed by Astrid's rebuttal. "Astrid, even if the prophecy was true, the odds that it would be you are slim." "How are the slim!? I've worked my whole life to prove myself!" Astrid exclaimed starting to sound angry, which is something you don't won't to make a Hofferson.

She was the best warrior in her age group, and there were only five teens on Berk, (why there were only five teenagers on a fairly populated village that hasn't had a war with another tribe since Drago's defeat is beyond her, by all accounts it doesn't seem right).

The first two were the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston. The two were, in the simplest of terms, destructive, chaotic, and as easy to control as a pack of wolves. Ruff was the only other girl in the group, with blonde hair that ended in puffy braids, and was the smarter of the two, but not by much. She was also the apprentice to Gothi, the village elder and healer, learning how to cast spells, which she was surprisingly good at, even though and her brother would often use it to pull pranks. Tuff had hair similar to his sister's, except it was flat. He was probably only in the group because the twins were glued at the hips, and he was surprisingly good at coming up with distractions, once every like, three months. The two were close, although they fought each day, and were very annoying.

Next was Fishlegs Ingerman. He was the biggest of the group, although his mom says he's just husky. He was also the smartest, knowing pretty much everything about dragons, so if anyone needed information, he was the go-to guy. He was also a collector of ancient relics that came in pretty handy at times. Even though he was pretty useful, he was nervous, and would often freak out at the wrong time. He may have been smart, but was sort of an outcast because of it, never standing up for himself. That wasn't a bad thing though, his great-grandfather was part Berserker, which were know to go, well, berserk.

And then there was Snotlout, the thought of his name made Astrid want to barf.

Snotlout was Spitelout's son, and because of Stoick making a vow to never remarry after his wife's disappearance, was named the heir. He was the splitting image of his father: strong, egotistical and the shortest attention span of anyone in the village, next to the twins. Seriously, fish have a longer attention span then him. He considers himself the best Viking in the history of the archipelago, and believes because of his distant relation to Hiccup the 1st, he would be the Final Rider, and would claim that he would be the first one since to train a Night Fury. A majority of Fishlegs' insecurities came from his remarks, like the time he said he was as useful as "legs on a fish." He also would often attempt to flirt with Astrid, but would not get the hint that she wasn't interested, or even looking for a boyfriend.

That just left her. She worked harder than anyone else to prove she was a warrior and live up to the family name, which was hard to do. Her parents were too busy for her when she was a child, leaving her to learn how to fight from someone else. Her aunt was cursed by Odin, and had to pay tribute by sailing to the end of the world, which was later discovered to be round. Last was here uncle, Fearless Finn. When she was five, he left Berk in shame after failing to train the Flightmare, a dragon with the ability to paralyze Vikings with its breath, that lived in a swamp on the other side of the island, and the dragon has long since been called the "Hofferson's Bane."

Old Wrinkly sighed, and said "I have some work left to do before closing up, so if you want to read a book, take your pick" before turning to leave the room. Astrid turned back to face to the Book of Dragons, and then asked "Any book?" "Any book _except_ _that_ book" Wrinkly said without looking over his shoulder. Astrid gave him an angry look behind his back before turning her attention back to the book. "How does anyone know I'm not the Final Rider?" Astrid said to no one in particular. "If he, or she, does exist, where are you?

Unknown to her, the shadow of an evil not seen for centuries entered the library.

* * *

 **AUTHOR"S NOTE: Okay, I gonna stop here and that's chapter 2. I hit over 3,000 words with this one, and I promise the next chapter is going to start the action, I hope to get it sometime tomorrow.**

 **This time I was just trying to get some backstory into this, then I saw how long it was and decided to split it into two parts. Now for some clarification. for those who didn't read or haven't heard of the book series. (There's a book series! someone in the audience shouts. Yes, they came first though.)**

 **1: Old Wrinkly, Valhallarama and Baggybum are all characters from the books. Old Wrinkly is Hiccup's maternal grandfather and is quote-unquote "the only thinker in the village". Valhallarama is Valka's book-counterpart, and I see why the folks at Dreamworks changed it to Valka. I wanted to at least mention her in this, so I made her Wrinkly's other daughter. Baggybum is book-Snotlout's father, but was replaced by Spitelout. I included him because he was very unimportant in the book series, so I decided to give him some attention.**

 **2: For the record, it has never been directly stated the Movie-Hiccup and Movie-Snotlout are cousins, so I decided to make them half-cousins instead. As for Spitelout, I don't intend to make him a villain, but I do plan on having him as a catalyst for some of Snotlout's actions in later chapters.**

 **3: "Hofferson's Bane" is the name for the Flightmare that appeared in "Fright of Passage", and was given a name in Rise of Berk.**

 **4 (Last one): In** _ **Magi-Nation (**_ **for those who didn't read the A/N at the beginning of the prologue, it's the inspiration for this story)** _ **,**_ **the character Edyn was a spell caster, and the character Strag was a "shadow stalker" that collected and used magical relics. I wanted to include that aspect, so I decided to give Fishlegs and Ruffnut one of those traits. And if you saw a little bit of the show like I advised, you now that the spells and relics pretty much tell you what they do, I'll try to make them a little more interesting when used.**

 **Tuffnut's voice: Why didn't I get one of those?**

 **Writer: Because you're too dumb to use either of them. Besides Ruff is still smarter then you.**

 **Tuff: Prove it!**

 **Writer: There was the time she tricked you into slapping yourself because she said it would hurt her when it wouldn't, the time she tricked you into thinking you got stung by a speed stinger, the time she saved your life when Stormfly was going to fire blast you, shall I go on?**

 **Tuff: Ugh**

 **Anyway, before I go one last thing, please, and I mean PLEASE, do not beg for updates in the reviews. I just can't stand it, if anything it makes me want to NOT update just to annoy you guys. So anyway, thank you for reading, and please review, just don't beg.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was posted on October 30** **th** **, 2015. (This is gonna be a thing now)**


	3. Chapter 1 (part 2)

**Authors Note: I am so sorry, it tried to finish this on time, but I was busy and didn't get to work until yesterday, I am sorry. (Someone in the audience throws a rotten tomato in my face) okay I guess I deserve that. One thing before we go, the OC's in this and by extension all my stories, they're inspired (as in there are suppose too be modeled after, not directly copied off of them) by different characters across movies, TV, classic literature, folklore and games. So, to help you guys figure out what the OC's in this story are based off of, I'll give you guys a hint at the end of every other chapter. The OC's here (the fairies in the prologue) will be who. Why you ask; because it's fun for me to see people try and figure things out.**

 **Anyway, I OWN NOTHING (Except the aforementioned OC's and the idea to write this.)**

* * *

 _Earth_

The next day, Hiccup fiddled with the ring, examining it before putting it on and finding out that "It's a little big, and greens more my color." He reached his hand out for his mother to grab the ring back and said "I don't think I'm ready for it. Smiling, Valka placed her hand on Hiccup's and said "I know you are." Hiccup was surprised by his mother's tone, it was almost like see was going to send him off to war or something. "This is your time now" Wondering what that could have meant, he asked "Time for what?" "To show to world who you are, son" was what she answered back. Taking one last look at the ring, Hiccup put the ring in his pocket and said "Well, don't wanna be late for school." He patted Toothless' head, said goodbye, and left.

After he left, Valka looked up at Cloudjumper and said "I tried so hard to stop this, and I couldn't. What should I do now old friend?" "You must let him follow his destiny Val" is what the owl's expression seemed to say. Valka sighed and hoped today wasn't the day she had long feared.

* * *

 _Berk Library_

While Astrid was busy looking at the Book of Dragons, a sinister presence began moving its way through the library, searching for her and the book. As it moved, it left burn marks on the floor, for the dark power it had was strong, and then it found her.

Astrid was unaware of the dark mist behind her, she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts. Slowly, it moved closer to her. When it got close enough, the slots on the Book of Dragons started to glow a dark purple. "What's happening" Astrid said in surprise. Behind her, the mist was started to take the shape of a person. Finally sensing what was behind her, Astrid turned around, calling for Old Wrinkly, but to her surprise, saw the one person who could strike fear into the bravest of men: Drago Bludvist

"Do I look like Old Wrinkly" Drago stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Who are you" Astrid said trying to sound brave. Keeping a face of stone, Drago said "You know very well who I am, and I know who you are, but no need to be _this_ afraid." Quick to pull a comeback, Astrid said "I'm not" before taking deep breaths to appear calm.

As Drago started to approach, Astrid put on her 'warrior face', stepped in front of the Book of Dragons and told Drago to "Stay Back!" "You try to be brave in my presence, but we both know you aren't. We also know you don't want to make me an enemy, nor do you want to face me alone" Drago said in a deep voice.

Astrid, continuing her fearless façade, said "I'm not alone", and grabbed the axe that was strapped to the back of her cloak. The axe was beautifully designed, with a reflective dual-blade and a handle covered with different seven colored krystals. "I need your help Stormfly," she cried. When she did, a spiral of blue fire appeared at her shoulder and spiraled up her arm. The fire stopped when it hit a blue one that was closer to the blade then the other krystals.

Suddenly, the krystal glowed, and dissolved into a flurry of blue light. The light than began to take the shape of Stormfly, a Deadly Nadder and Astrid's closest bonded dragon. She had a beautiful blue coloring with a crown of spikes and multiple on her tail. When she was fully formed, the lights disappeared, and Stormfly stood next to her trainer.

Drago laughed softly, but still menacingly, and spoke "Is this the best dragon you could call?" Taking offense to that comment Stormfly growled and said "I'm all Astrid needs." Ignoring her, Drago continued speaking, "You think you are a warrior, think again before you rush into battle with the God of all Dragons." " _Woah, the books were right, this guy does have a big ego"_ Astrid thought to herself. She spoke, "I'm not afraid of you!"

Drago, starting to sound angry, simply stated "You should be."

Seeing an opportunity to attack, Astrid turned to Stormfly, and said "Now, Spine Shot." Stormfly raised the spikes on her tail, and proceeded to fire them at Drago.

Unfortunately, the spikes passed right through him.

"Okay, let's try something else, Sun Flare" Astrid commanded, trying to stay on the offensive. Stormfly then fired a magnesium blast at Drago, but just before it made contact, Drago took the staff at his side, pointed it in the direction of the fire, and it took the blast. He waved the now-covered-in-fire staff, and fired it back at Stormfly, who then bumped into Astrid. As she fell back, she accidently bumped into the glass that was protecting the Book of Dragons, accidently breaking it. Meanwhile, Stormfly was flailing around, knocking books from their cases, and some onto her. When she stopped flailing around, Drago fired some kind of energy orb at Stormfly, knocking her into a wall. Astrid rushed over to her partner, and asked "are you okay?" Clearly hurt, Stormfly said "I'm fine. I'm not gonna be much help here, so can I take a break" Stormfly replied back. Nodding her head a yes, Astrid held her axe out and said, "To the Stables." Stormfly proceeded to turn into energy before turning back into an ornament on Astrid's Axe.

She turned to face Drago, who was starting to look kinda transparent and said "you're not real." "He's an apparition" cried Old Wrinkly, who after hearing all the noise rushed as fast as his old legs could carry him, and he was very, very surprised to see Astrid fighting the most feared man in the history of the world. Reaching into the pocket on the inside of his tunic and grabs two flat stones. "Jewels of Midgard, I call on the life that gives you power, to ensnare this creature of darkness" he cried before throwing the jewels toward Drago. When they reached Drago, the two started to revolve around him.

"Simple spells, your pathetic powers can do nothing against my might" Drago stated, sounding as if he was nigh invincible. Wrinkly scoffs, and answers back, "You cannot escape The Core." "A simple door, and even the strongest of doors can be unlocked. The Glyph is my key. I will find it, and the Dragon Gems, and then I will conquer the world" Drago states in the most menacing voice he has used this whole chapter.

"That will never happen" Old Wrinkly said in a hurry, "The Final Rider will stop you." Drago chuckled softly, surprising the old man. And then Drago flat out said "There is no Final Rider." "Yes there is," Astrid said rejoining the conflict, " _ **I'm**_ the Final Rider." Unamused and unconvinced, Drago said "Really? Then you and I will certainly meet again." **"She's** _ **NOT**_ **the Final Rider"** Wrinkly said trying to prevent Astrid from rushing into battle against the madman that was standing before them, **"leave now or I will summon him."** "Ah, so he isn't here yet," Drago said slowly, "The great Final Rider, the one destined to defeat me, I look forward to destroying him."

Old Wrinkly pointed his staff towards Drago and said _"Tilbake til Core!"_ His staff glowed a bright green, and the stones revolving Drago glowed as if they were being heated. In a flash of light, Drago had disappeared. Out of exhaustion, the old man collapsed. Astrid rushed to him, asking if he was alright. After taking a moment to catch his breath, the old librarian simply said "I'm getting to old for this." Turning her head so he couldn't hear, Astrid said:

"You maybe to old, but I'm not." Looking at the Book of Dragons, she starts to wonder how the Final Rider would stop Drago, and if it was even possible at all.

* * *

 _The Next Day_

"And then I sent him back to the core" Old Wrinkly explained to the Berk Council, consisting of himself, Chief Stoick, Gobber the village blacksmith, Spitelout, Baggybum, and Gothi. They were in the Great Hall, the village's town hall.

"This is serious Wrinkly" said Stoick. When he first became chief over twenty years ago, Gothi has predicted that a great disaster would befall the tribe. After his wife disappeared, Stoick assumed that was it, but now he's not so sure that was it, who was he kidding, he _knows_ that facing the greatest evil in the history of the world is a million times worse.

"Gothi," Stoick turned to the old fruit bat **(OWW, what you're like 109 or something, OWW)** , "what do you think we should do?" The elder, who only communicated through a strange writing, began to write the answer to their problem. When she was finished, Gobber, who was one of the few people who could understand what she writes, got up and began to translate.

"She says we need ta summon," He paused "a moose wearing boots. Shouldn't be too hard." At that, Gothi whacked him with her staff, which was her way of saying "you read it wrong, genius." Gobber, taking another look at the elder's writing, realized his mistake, and opened his mouth in awe after seeing what the old woman said.

"The Final Rider."

"We already know who the Final Rider is, my son" Spitelout interrupted. The other members of the council, groaned in annoyance, even Gothi (just don't ask how a mute old woman who could only communicate by writting pictures could groan.) "No offense brother," Baggybum said, trying to stop his brother from going on about how he felt Snotlout was the Final Rider, "But your son has as much a chance of being the Final Rider as trolls existing." "Trolls Exist, they steal your socks, but only the left ones, what's with that" Gobber quickly exclaimed, who always blamed trolls for the disappearance of his socks. The irony was that he ONLY has his left foot.

Stoick, needing no further evidence, decided to go along with the plan. "Alright, we'll summon the Final Rider." Spitelout opened his mouth to speak, but the chief quickly beat him to it, "And no, it is not Snotlout, and if he is, gods help us" he said, muttering that last part under his breathe.

Spitelout quickly sat down. He had always been envious of his brother. Why he was involved the story no one was allowed to talk about.  
(Before Stoick was born, his parents had gotten into a fight, and his father had went to Brunhilda Jorgenson's house to calm down. She was an old friend, and had always been the one to calm him down. Things that can't be said in a K+ rated story happened, and Spitelout was born. The chief ultimately decided to stay with Stoick's mother. As a result, Spitelout was the first Jorgenson to have the honor of being the son of a chief, and the dishonor of being the first one with "a complicated origin." Being a Jorgenson, he was a strong warrior, but even that didn't stop the few villagers who reminded him constantly that he could never be chief. So, when his father made the arrangement that would allow his child to be the chief after Stoick, Spitelout agreed. Of course, that didn't stop him from claiming that he should be chief. In fact, some people believed the rumor that he was behind the chief's wife's disappearance, and that he was secretly planning on revolting and overthrowing Stoick to become Chief.)

Stoick told his father-in-law to get the Book of Dragons so that they could summon the Final Rider. But what awaited him was a big surprise.

* * *

 _Unbeknownst to them, Astrid was telling her side of the story on the other side of the village._

"…..and then he disappeared." "Whoa, you're lucky to be alive" said Fishlegs, who was the only one Astrid decided to reveal the events of the previous night to, because A) he was the most trustworthy of the group, and B) he would actually pay attention. Fishlegs then proceeded to freak out, saying things like "we're all going to die." So, Astrid had to give him a 'get a hold of yourself man' slap.

"Thanks." "Anyway, I need your help to get the Book of Dragons" Astrid said, resulting in a confused Fishlegs. Realizing what she wanted, Fishlegs calmly said, "Astrid, I know you want to read the book and prove you're the Final Rider, but Old Wrinkly and the Chief might not be happy about it" he said trying to avoid getting into trouble.

"Come on Fishlegs," Astrid said trying to convince the husky Viking to help, "you don't know what's written in the book. It might even have information on a whole new dragon." That's when Fishlegs caved, information about dragons was his weak spot. "Fine."

The two then went to the library, which Wrinkly forgot to lock up, and fortunately for them he also forgot to put the Book of Dragons back in its hiding spot.

Fishlegs stared in awe. He had always wanted to see what was in the book, and now it was finally happening. "Go on" Astrid said, letting Fishlegs read the book first. He grabbed the book, and carefully opened it. When he did, his mouth converted into a look of surprise, for the Book of Dragons was the one thing he had never expected it to be.

"It's blank."

"What," Astrid said trying to figure out what Fish just said. Instead of waiting for an answer, she grabbed it from his hands and began looking through the pages: totally blank.

"This can't be it," "Astrid…" "there's gotta be more…" "Astrid…" "It has to be a fake!" "Astrid…" "What Fishlegs!" Astrid snapped, causing the bigger Viking to jump back. "Look."

Astrid couldn't have been more surprised when she looked down; on the page she was on, an outline of a person started to take shape. It was a boy, around her age, wearing strange clothing. When it finished taking shape, the image rose of the page and started to move, and it seemed to be talking to someone.

"He must be the Final Rider" Fishlegs deduced.

* * *

 _Back on Earth_

Hiccup was nervous for a second, but it was quickly put to rest when the judges finished looking at his work. It was a painting of him, holding his hand out towards the head of the Night Fury. The background was a starry night sky, with a slight mist at the bottom of the painting.

"That was close" he said when they left. He wiped his forehead, dropping the ring his mother gave him. "What am I gonna do with this" he asked himself. He put it in his pocket, deciding to figure it out later. Looking up at the windows, he thought he could have seen Toothless, starring at him with his green eyes. Of course, that was nothing new, for years he had thought he had seen the playful cat starring at him from a distance.

But something was off this time, because Hiccup could have sworn he saw Toothless with a collar around his neck, and on the collar was a stone matching the one on the ring Hiccup was given. Thinking he was just imagining it, Hiccup shook his head and turned back to his work, unaware his best friend really was there.

* * *

 _Meanwhile,..._

Astrid was having a hard time thinking that the person whose image she was seeing was the Final Rider. He looked really scrawny and thin. Even though she herself was lean, she was fast and could wield her axe like a pro, thanks to the training she had received from Gobber when she was little. This boy, he looked like a walking fishbone.

"If he _is_ the Final Rider, than we need to find him. But where is he" she said. If this was the one destined to stop Drago and be the best dragon trainer in the history of the archipelago, then she needed a lot of answers.

Suddenly, the image disappeared, and words started to appear on the page. _This is how the book protects its secrets,_ she realized _, it appears blank until it's time to reveal them._

"What's it say" Fishlegs asked. "It says: _Darkness lurks on the horizon. The light awaits where the servants of Odin lurk. When you reach the fork in the road, your fate awaits where a true friendship was formed"_ Astrid read from the book.

" _Servants of Odin,"_ Fishlegs repeated. Odin was the leader of their gods, so technically, all the gods served him. Then there were Vikings, and dragons and _the two ravens that spied for him._

"Raven Point" the two exclaimed at the same time. Putting the book in her bag, Astrid took a pencil and wrote a note on a piece of paper on Wrinkly's desk. "Come on, we need to head go" she told Fishlegs. The two Vikings turned to leave, but heard footsteps coming from downstairs. "Its Old Wrinkly, we're in trouble," Fishlegs said, starting to panic.

Astrid opened the window, grabbed Fishlegs and leaped out, Fish screaming like a little girl. "Can we please never do that again" Fishlegs asked when they hit the ground, trying to catch his breathe.

Before she could answer, Old Wrinkly started to yell at them from the window, well as loud as an old man could yell. "Come on, let's go" Astrid told Fishlegs. Getting up, the two started to run to the edge of the forest, a few feet from the library.

As they were doing that, Wrinkly ran out of the library as fast as his old legs could carry him. "Come back," he tried to yell, but it was no use, he was to out of breathe. As luck would have it, he ran into the twins.

"Woah, what's wrong with you" asked Tuffnut. "Yeah did Tuff take one of your dumb books," said Ruffnut. "How dare you accuse me of that, you know I don't touch books! How do I now _**you**_ didn't take one of them?" "Because I've been with you all day, idiot!" "A likely story, but that doesn't prove…"

"Will you two shut up" cried Snotlout, who was flying in on the conversation on Hookfang, his Monstrous Nightmare. "Yeah, you're so loud, _**dead**_ people give you noise complaints" said Hookfang, whose temper was starting to go. "Anyway, what's your problem, gramps" Snotlout directed towards his grandfather-in-law. He never liked Wrinkly, he thought that he was wasting time, caring about an old library, which he claimed that he would turn into a museum in his honor after he became chief. The feeling was mutual, with Wrinkly disliking how Snotlout didn't care about the past, because those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Wrinkly was on the first boat off the island when Snotlout becomes chief.

"Astrid and Fishlegs are heading for trouble. Last night, Drago appeared and she faced off with him." Wrinkly's words froze the three teens (and one dragon) in place, the idea of one of their friend facing off against the evilest man in the archipelago sounded terrifying. "Ruff, try and see where they're going." "But why do I have to do it" Ruff whined. She hated having to do things that didn't involve blowing things up. " **Just Do It** " Wrinkly ordered her. "Fine, don't get your beard in a twist" she said

" _synet av dragene, vis meg hva jeg onskr a se " _ Ruff whispered, using the spell that Gothi taught her that allowed her to see what she wished to see, (and somethings she didn't want to see, including the first time she tried and ended up seeing Snotlout kissing a picture of himself. She had nightmares for a week).

 _Astrid and Fishlegs were at Raven Point, about a few minutes from the village. Fish was out of breathe and Astrid was grabbing a book from her bag. "When you reach the fork in the road, your fate awaits where a true friendship was formed" Astrid read from the book. She looked around before looking to Fishlegs, then she asked "What do you think that means?" Fishlegs finally caught his breathe and said, "What's the first thing everyone learns about Hiccup the 1_ _st_ _" he said. Astrid looked confused before saying "the cove." She put the book back into her bag and said, "Come on, if he's there, we can meet him if we hurry." She started to run in the direction of the cove, with Fish muttering "why did I get out of bed this morning?"_

"They're headin' to the cove" Ruffnut said after her vision ended. "The cove, why would they want to go there? There's nothing fun to do there, nothing to break, nothing to blow up, and the fish don't even say 'hi'" Tuffnut said. Ignoring that, Wrinkly said, "You have to find them, and yes that means _**all**_ of you" adding that last part when Snotlout and Tuff looked like they were going to ask if they had to go to.

The twins grabbed the daggers they had under their belts, both of which were embedded with seven (technically six and a half) krystals on the weapons. They were all different colors, except for the green half-krystals that were embedded on the blade.

"Barf, let'em have it!" "Let's do this, Belch!" The two cried, calling upon their dragon, with green fire spiraling around their arms and stopping at the green krystals. The two turned into flurries of light, and transformed if to Barf and Belch, the Hideous Zippleback that they share. Unlike most dragons, the Zippleback had two heads, and can split its krystal in half if it has two riders.

"What do we need to blow up" Barf said. "Yeah, I'm ready to cause some mayhem" said Belch. "No time, we have to go" said Snotlout, trying to prevent having to take care of the twins mess before they made one. The two mounted the dragon, and the three Vikings flew towards Raven Point. "Today is the day that destiny makes its move" Wrinkly said to himself once they left. He ran back to the Great Hall, shouting "We have to summon the Final Rider!"

Unknown to him, he was being watched by two people from up in the tree above him. They were Dragon Trappers, Drago's forces. Seeing the elderly man run away, the trappers heard their master's voice, "Find the children and bring me the book." Not wanting to anger their master, the two trappers went after them.

* * *

 **Author's Note: We're gonna stop here**

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 **Psyche!**

 **No, I've got more for today, just to make up for the delay. You can see that I did a lot already, and odds are it's gonna be like this most of the time. I'm just pausing. But now you know how the characters can have multiple dragons.**

 **Anyway,** _ **"Tilbake til Core"**_ **and** _ **"synet av dragene, Vis meg hva jeg onskr a se"**_ _ **is Norwegian, which roughly translates to "Back to the Core" and "Sight of the Dragons, show me what I wish to see."**_ **I decided to put the spells in another language so that way it would be more interesting. Now, back to the action.**

* * *

The two trappers continued to run through the forest. "Follow me," said the first one. He was named Dagur, but most people know him by his more colorful moniker, Dagur the Deranged. He was the son of Oswald the Agreeable, chief of the Berserkers. He had left the tribe and joined Drago's forces because he couldn't understand his father's more peaceful methods. The Berserkers had the largest armada out of all the other tribes, and the island had the largest population of Skrills, dragons with the ability to absorb and fire lightning, than anywhere else. He also disrespected his father, multiple times mentioning how he felt his father was weak.

"No, follow me" said the other trapper. This one was a man named Norbert the Nutjob. He was chief of the Hysterics, a tribe that has supported Drago since his original attempt at conquest. They were similar to the Berserkers, but at least they had _some_ form of self-control. The Hysterics on the other hand, they decided whether or not to kill their enemies by playing "Toss the Axe." He was a great inventor, helping design much of the gear the new generation of trappers used.

"I said follow me, or do we have a problem" said Dagur in an angry sounding tone, "and what makes you think you should lead?" "Because, kid, I'm the adult here" Norbert said in an equally angry voice. "Alright then, if you want to lead, then tell me, which way do we go when we reach the fork in the road" Dagur asked the Hysteric chief. "I say we go left" he said.

"Alright then, I'll follow you. _**IF**_ you can answer one question: which way is left" Dagur said, knowing that even though Norbert was a great Trapper, his father never told him the difference between left and right. "Ugh, left. Right" he said raising his _left_ arm. "Wrong" Dagur said before Drago's voice came out of nowhere. "Get going you fools!" The two looked at each other before resuming the chase.

"Are you sure the scale is hot enough" Stoick asked Gobber, who was heating up a jet black and blue scale. "Of course it is" Gobber said to his brother-in-arms. "It is hot enough right" he asked Gothi. The elder wrote something in response. "She said 'Yes, now take it out before it catches fire'" he translated the old woman's writing. "'Before it catches fire' what does she mean…" he didn't understand what she meant until he smelled smoke and took the scale out of the fire.

"This is the last of Wodensfang's scales from the day Drago was sealed in the core" Old Wrinkly said, "We only have one chance to summon the Final Rider."

"Do we really have to do this? I mean maybe Drago was just joking about trying to conquer the world" Baggybum said, not understanding the emergency of the situation. Stoick choose to not say anything about his brother's stupidity, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Alright" Old Wrinkly wheezed. _" lys av den siste rytteren, oppfordrer vi deg I var timen av behovet. Vennligst hjelp oss." _The scale started to shine, before emitting a powerful glow.

* * *

 _On Earth_

The winner was going to be announced in a few minutes, and Hiccup was waiting. Suddenly, he heard a strange voice whispering _" Vennligst hjelp oss."_ Confused, Hiccup walked towards where the sound was coming from. When he was away from everyone at the art show, the voice stopped.

"Well this was stupid" he said to himself. Suddenly, he felt a strange warmth sensation. He grabbed the ring in his pocket, only to find it glowing. "What the…" was all he could say before it glowed even brighter, and he disappeared.

* * *

 _The Cove_

In a flash of light, Hiccup fell. "Ouch" he said. When he looked around, he saw that he was in a strange place. It looked like a giant sink hole, with high walls and a small fish pond at the center. To say he'd have never seen a place like it was an understatement.

"Where am I?" "Get off of me" a voice from nowhere said, making Hiccup realize he was sitting on someone. He got up, saying "I'm so sorry, you I was just following this weird voice when I got this, this" the words got stuck in his throat when he saw the person he sat on. It was Astrid, part of the reason he stopped was because he fell head over heels that moment, and the other part was because she was carrying an axe.

Holding her head, she said "Next time watch where your" "It's you" cried a male voice from behind Hiccup, this one belonging to Fishlegs. Hiccup, confused by all this asked "me?" Fishlegs wasted no time answering, "Yes you. We saw you in the Book of Dragons." "The book of what?" Hiccup asked.

Before anyone could answer, the sound of two people arguing could be heard. "Hide" said Fishlegs. The three ran behind a small cluster of boulders. Hiccup, wanting answers decided now of all times to ask questions.

"Okay can someone please tell me what's going on? First, my mom gives me some cryptic message, then I get zapped to some weird pit, now I'm hiding behind a rock with a bunch of people in Viking costumes. Just, someone start explaining." "We'll explain later," said Fishlegs. "And what do you mean 'costumes', we are Vikings." "Okay, you expect me to believe you guys are Vikings, who haven't been around in like a thousand years, very funny but…" "Quiet, they'll hear us" Astrid said, stopping Hiccup mid-sentence.

Looking over the rock, Hiccup saw to people, who were both holding _weapons_. "Who are those guys" Hiccup asked. "They're dragon trappers, Drago must have sent them to get the book." "So give him back his book." Looking at Fishlegs, Astrid said, "If this guy is the Final Rider, we're doomed."

While the three were hiding, Dagur and Norbert were busy trying to find them. "So, where are they?" "Maybe the used an invisibility spell." "Even if they think they can hide from me, they won't be for much longer." Dagur than grabbed the sword he was carrying and pointed at the sky.

"Skrill, dragon of my people, descend!" Dark clouds started to gather at the cove. Then lightning struck the purple krystal on the sword. The krystal proceed to, well you guys know what happens next, so long story short, a Skrill showed up. Norbert, following Dagur's lead, took the axe he was carrying and summoned his dragon, a large, butterfly like dragon called a Death Song. The two dragons were wearing armor on their heads, wings, tails, and some on their claws. On their head armor was a crest; two axes laying on top of one another.

"Okay, as long as we keep quiet, they can't find us" Astrid whispered towards Hiccup and Fishlegs. But then, the worst thing possible happened.

Hiccup's phone started to ring.

 _I'm in love (I'm in love)  
I'm in love (I'm in love)  
I'm in love with a monster_

Hiccup franticly tried to turn off his phone. Apparently you could get great reception on Berk. Unfortunately, he turned it off a little too late, for the Trappers had already heard enough. "There!" A lightning blast then struck the rocks the three were hiding behind, knocking them out into the open. Astrid, being a warrior, got up pretty quickly, while Hiccup and Fishlegs got up slowly. "Okay, definitely the weirdest day of my life!"

Dagur chuckled with an insane look in his eye, and said "Give us the book girly, and _maybe_ we'll leave without destroying you and chubby." Noticing Hiccup, he added "And your little boyfriend too." Seeing that they were trying to drag them into their problems, Hiccup quickly said, "Leave me out of this, I don't even know why I'm here."

Amused by Hiccup's cluelessness, Norbert said, "Well, this is what you call a negotiation. You see…" "Yah, hold on a sec." "What?" "I don't know. Maybe you could **SHUT UP and START ATTACKING!"** Dagur was clearly annoyed by Norbert not trying to get the book. "Sheesh, fine. Amber Trap" Norbert command his Death Song. The dragon then began to fire orange globs at the three teens. Thankfully, they all were able to dodge them.

Astrid held out her axe, and Fishlegs grabbed a lobster claw necklace from his tunic, "Stormfly, come on." "Meatlug, get 'em girl." The two shouted simultaneously, summoning their dragons. "Stormfly, Spine Shot" "Meatlug, Lava Blast" they said. Stormfly than started flinging spikes while Meatlug started to fire blasts of lava. The two opposing dragons were able to dodge most of the spines, and their armor was able to withstand the lava.

"Okay Hiccup, time to wake up" Hiccup told himself, thinking that he'd fallen asleep and this was all just a dream. But while he was doing that, Dagur, who had seen an opportunity to attack, threw a knife at him, barely missing Hiccup. He started to approach the confused teen. "Okay, maybe we can talk this out? I mean, are we really going to fight over a book" Hiccup asked, being pushed to a wall of the cove. Dagur stopped when Hiccup had nowhere left to go and said, "Good point, except I don't care." Raising his sword to strike Hiccup, he closed his eyes, waiting for the attack that never came.

When he opened his eyes, he saw _**Toothless**_ was clawing at Dagur's face. After struggling, he managed to pull the cat off his face. Toothless, being a cat, landed on his feet in front of the confused Hiccup. "Well, my best friend just became an ex machina. Just when I thought today couldn't get any weirder." He took a closer look at Toothless, and saw that he was wearing the collar he thought he saw on him before.

Suddenly, a rogue lightning blast almost hit them. Hiccup turned to the direction the blast came from, and saw that the battle still going on, was going badly. Fishlegs had gotten himself caught in amber, with Meatlug standing between him, Norbert and the Death Song. Stormfly had her hands- talons filled with the Skrill, both of them firing. Astrid was in the worst situation, she was fighting the enraged Dagur, and she didn't have her axe on her.

Hiccup looked around for something to help her, when he saw the spot the Skrill's lightning had hit; a sword was laying just a few feet below where the blast had struck. Without thinking, Hiccup grabbed the sword and rushed to Dagur and Astrid, who had gotten herself in a tighter situation, because Dagur was readying his sword for an attack. By sheer luck, Hiccup managed to block the blow.

"Well, looks like we have an interesting spot. Me, a skilled warrior, against some scrawny guy who doesn't have a chance" Dagur said overconfidently. Hiccup, catching his breath, said "I may not know what's going on, but clearly you can't have this book everyone keeps talking about." "Well, what makes you think that you can stop me from getting it" Dagur said with a chuckle. Hiccup didn't speak for a moment, but when he did, he said "I don't know, but that doesn't mean I can't try." Behind the two, Astrid was speechless, she had never seen anyone be so unsure, but so willing to risk everything for people he had just met.

Suddenly, the hilt of the sword started to glow. Hiccup took a look at it, and saw a crystal, with a strange symbol in it that resembled the Night Fury. Then, a roar came from the direction Hiccup came from. When he turned towards it, he saw the gem on Toothless' strange collar shining. The next part was a surprise that no one saw coming. After a flash of blue light, Toothless was replaced by a Night Fury!

Amazed by this, the Skrill turned away from Stormfly to face Toothless. "Hey, I'm standing right here" Stormfly said, clearly agitated by her opponent bailing on their fight. Astrid, who had managed to slip away while everyone was distracted, went up to her annoyed partner, "We'll worry about that later, we gotta help Fishlegs." That was an understatement, because Meatlug, Fish's only protection, had gotten trapped in amber as well.

The Death Song walked towards Fishlegs, who was trying to get out of the amber, while Meatlug was shouting, "If you touch a hair on his head, I'll make sure you don't sit right for a month!" "Oh, and whose gonna stop me, the helpless Gronckle stuck like a fly in a spider web" Norbert said, before adding "If you behave, than maybe I won't have my dragon eat you too." Needless to say, Meatlug became quiet. Before the Death Song could reach Fishlegs, Stormfly fired a blast at it, and pounced on the dazed Death Song.

While they were busy, Hiccup was in awe of the fact a _**Night Fury**_ was in front of him. Dagur on the other hand, was bored by the lack of violence, screamed " **DON'T JUST STAND THERE, START KILLING STUFF**!" The Skrill then fired lightning, while Hiccup, who was improvising, said, "Toothless, Plasma Blast?" Thankfully, it worked, Toothless fire a purple bolt at the Skrill, and the two blasts collided, resulting in an electrical explosion. Unfazed, Hiccup and Dagur looked at each other, both with a determination to win, when suddenly "Hookfang, Flame Stream" came out of nowhere, followed by a fire blast. The two looked up and saw Snotlout and the Twins flying towards them.

Norbert looked at Dagur, and said, "We have to retreat." As much as he hated to admit it, Dagur was outmatched. He looked at Hiccup, "We'll finish this later" he said, before turning to his Skrill. "To the Stables" the two Trappers said to their dragons, who then turned back into kystals, and the two left.

When they were gone, the others had landed, and called their dragons back as well. "Aw man, we didn't get to blow stuff up." "I know, I feel cheated" the twins said. "A little help guys" said Fishlegs, who was still trying to break free. Sighing, the three Vikings went to help him and Meatlug, while Astrid called Stormfly back, and then fell to her knees.

Hiccup rushed to her, and asked "Hey, are you alright" and held out his hand to help her up. Astrid was going to say she was "Fine", but instead she just took his hand and got up. "That was some bravery you showed." "Thanks. You know, I didn't catch your name." "Astrid." Hiccup had to admit, as odd as it was, it was pretty. "I'm Henry, but most people call me Hiccup." Astrid giggled a bit, which was odd, since she never giggled. "Hiccup" she said, trying to comprehend why he called himself that. "Yeah, I know, it's not the best." "It's not that. Around here 'Hiccup' is what we call the runt of the liter." "Well that just fills me up with confidence" Hiccup said in his trademark sarcastic voice.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of shouting. As it turns out, the others were fighting over the Book of Dragons. Astrid sighed, and went to stop the fighting. Hiccup turned to Toothless, only to see him glow, and turn back into a cat. "Well, this is gonna be interesting. I made friends with a bunch of Vikings, fought a guy with a sword, and my best friend can turn into a dragon" Hiccup said, trying to comprehend what had just happened. "And I talk to." Hiccup then just stood there, slacked jawed buggy-eyed, because his friend can talk to as well.

While Hiccup was stunned, Snotlout and the Twins were wondering about the stranger Astrid was just talking to, so the stop fighting over the book when she went up to them. "Who's that guy" Snotlout asked, "Do you need me to beat him up, babe." That last part earned him a disgusted scoff and punch to the arm from Astrid. Answering his question, she said "He's okay, he's gonna help us." "He's the Final Rider" Fishlegs added in, earning him a 'not-the-time' stare from Astrid. Needless to say, Snotlout got mad.

"What! You're messing with me, that fishbone, the Final Rider, ha, I bet you don't have proof." "His picture was in the Book of Dragons" Fishlegs said, trying to quiet Snotlout's big ego. "Oh yeah, let me see it" Snotlout demanded. "We can't." "Why not?!" "Because the book is enchanted to hide what's inside it" Astrid said, stepping back into the conversation, and trying to keep Fishlegs from accidently angering the stronger Viking.

"Okay," said Hiccup, who had gotten over the shock of, well, pretty much the enter day, and decided to finally get answers. "I know I asked this before, but why am I here?" "They think your gonna save us from Drago," Snotlout said, still refusing to believe that he _**wasn't**_ the Final Rider. While Hiccup kept asking questions, Snotlout kept interrupting him, Fishlegs checking to make sure he didn't drop anything, and Astrid resisting the urge to beat Snotlout to a pulp, the Twins saw something amazing.

"Ah, guys" said Ruff.

"Hey guys" said Tuff, trying to get their attention.

After both failing, they just screamed **"GUYS!"** When the others turned to face the Twins, they saw what they were making a fuss about. A few feet away from them, the cover of the Book of Dragons was glowing, just as it was the night before. The group walked towards the book. When all six (and Toothless) had surrounded the book, it opened itself up, much to their surprise. After flipping through the pages, the book stopped at a page, and on it, was the message: _"When the lightning is halted, the warriors of light and hope will arise, and the strongest of shadows will be stopped."_

The Twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout just stood in awe. Astrid, wondering what the book meant, asked aloud, "Warriors? Does that mean there could be more than one?" "One What" Hiccup asked, now more confused than ever. "Final Rider." Needless to say, it didn't answer his question.

Unknown to the group, an old and ancient dragon was watching them from the shadows. It said "The fight to save the Archipelago, has just begun."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, like I said, the chapters are going to be long. Now then; HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that "Hiccup listens to Fifth Harmony" part was my favorite to write, I couldn't stop laughing. If that last part felt a little rushed, I was just trying to finish up. I had a little trouble deciding what dragon to give Norbert. Then, I thought of the Death Song; Norbert's a Nutjob, he leads the Hysterics, the Death Song is a cannibal, it just seemed to fit. I also had a hard time deciding what Fishlegs keeps his dragons on before he needs them, then I remembered that his book counterpart had a lobster claw necklace, so I went with that Now, to reply to some reviews.**

 **Maga016: Thank you, it's nice to see hard work appreciated. (SPOILER ALERT: Hiccup should learn the truth sometime after chapter 12.)**

 **Wolf (great name by the way): It was directly stated that; in the books, not the Dreamworks franchise. If it was, then I'm sorry. If it wasn't, remember, this fan fiction, emphasize on fiction. As for longer paragraphs, I'll try to make them longer, breaks in the paragraphs, could you be a little more specific.**

 **Anyway, I've decided that chapters will be posted two or three times a month. Now, for the clue about the O/C's I mentioned. This applies to all of them:** **They are based off of mythical creatures.**

 **Well, that is for now. Remember, I have a life outside of writing stories, so if a chapter is late, I have a reason. Farewell, reviews are appreciated.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was posted November 9, 2015.**


	4. Chapter 2 (Return to Berk)

**AUTHOR"S NOTE: Happy Thanksgiving people, my gift to you is another chap. I would've posted sooner, but I got writers block, I hate it as much as you guys. A couple small notes before we start. First, every now and then I decided to add references in the chapters, last time it was "Slacked jaw buggy eyed," Aladdin reference. So who ever finds them please leave a comment in the reviews, why, because it's fun. Two, I mentioned this before, all spells are in Norwegian, and so you can use Google Translate if I forget a spell. Third, and I should have mentioned this, words in italics are flashbacks, clues from the Book of Dragons, or character thoughts, depending on the situation, and spells will be italized and underlined. Last, I edit small mistakes in other chapters, so reread if you're one of those people who can't stand 'non-perfected' grammar.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING (except the idea to write this and all that stuff I have to say)**

 _Chapter 2: Return to Berk_

* * *

 _Hiccup was sound asleep, as were the other inhabitants of the house, except Cloudjumper, who's supposed to be nocturnal. Suddenly, he was driven to a light sleep, and heard a deep voice call out for him, telling him, "Listen boy, those Berkians are not your friends."_

 _Hearing that voice, Hiccup woke up, and immediately wished he hadn't. Why? Because, Drago was a few feet from his bed. "You, you're the one from my dream all those years ago." With a stone face, Drago lifted his arm, and in his palm, a dark light glowed. That light emitted a mist, which engulfed Hiccup, giving him an intense headache. "I, am Drago Bludvist, the Dragon God, and I am here to help you. You are in grave danger." After that part, the mist faded, but Hiccup's headache was still there. Ignoring the pain Hiccup was experiencing, Drago kept talking._

 _Using his dark powers, he conjured images of Astrid, the Twins, Snotlout, and Fishlegs on the wall. "The Berkians are lying to you. They're trying to corrupt you." The images of the young Vikings disappeared, and were replaced by images of the two Dragon Trappers he had faced earlier. "My forces are the only ones you can trust, for I am the one who will destroy those who ride Dragons." "You must destroy them" Drago ordered. He began to disappear, and Hiccup felt something strange on his arm. He looked, and saw his arm becoming covered in metal. He tried to get it off, but he couldn't. Then he felt himself disappearing, and suddenly, he was falling._

* * *

Hiccup fell off the rock he was sleeping on, and awoke with a thud. After the battle that had happened, the six young teens decided to rest. Ignoring the hurt, Hiccup said "Mom, you wouldn't believe the weirdest dream I had." "Do I look like your mom?" Hiccup looked up and saw the other teens, except through his eyes they looked different; they were wearing dragon scale cloaks, metal armor. But the scariest thing was their eyes; black all the way.

Hiccup got up and backed away slightly. "Stay back, Drago warned me about all of you." Suddenly, a new voice that said, "You saw Drago, where" came out. Hiccup looked over and saw Toothless, except he looked like some kind of demon cat. Astrid started to approach, saying "Hiccup, what's wrong." At that point, Hiccup decided to run like thunder out of the cove. "Hiccup wait" cried Toothless, who ran after his best friend.

"What was that?" "Yeah, I mean, when we run it's when Bucket and Mulch realize we were stealing fish from their ships." Ignoring the Twins missing the point, Fishlegs said, "Moving on, let's see what just happened." "Hey, I already did it once today pal, so you do it." Hearing that, he grabbed the relic he had in his pocket, a small round orb in the shape of a reptilian eye called a 'Sight of the Dragons Replicator'. Fishlegs only used it once every now and then, when Ruff didn't want to use magic.

 _Not that far away from them, Hiccup was still running away, with Toothless close behind. "Hiccup, come on, whatever you saw wasn't real" Toothless cried, trying to stop his best friend. Eventually, Hiccup managed to get away from Toothless, by hiding behind a tree, where two Dragon Trappers were hiding in the shadows above._

"Oh no. He's running into a trap." "We've got to help him" Astrid said with concern. "Do we" came Snotlout's voice. Everyone, including the twins, just starred. "I mean, even if he wasn't the Final Rider, he can't fight to save his life. Plus, who would you rather have, a fishbone, or all of _this_ " he said, flexing after the last part. Scoffing, Astrid pulled out her axe, and said "Stormfly, we need your help." A moment later, Stormfly appeared. Astrid went over to the rock Hiccup was napping on and grabbed to thing she believed he called a 'phone.' "Alright girl, we need you to find Hiccup." She held the object up to Stormfly, who then began to sniff it.

"Alright, at the rate he's going, (sniff), he should arrive at a small river, (sniff), next to the rock that looks like Gobber's face." Fishlegs was kind off geeking out, he was always amazed at how well Nadders can track. "Alright, let's go" Astrid ordered. The others summoned their dragons, and went off.

Unfortunately, they forgot the sword Hiccup used that turned Toothless into a Night Fury.

* * *

Hiccup kept running, not willing to risk Toothless catching up. He stopped by a small river, and tried to catch his breathe. Above him, Dagur and Norbert were hiding in a tree branch. "Drago's spell did the trick. Oh, I am so going to get him" Dagur said with a tone of vengeance. Annoyed by his partner-in-crime's antics, Norbert said "Drago told us to capture him, not to harm him." Dagur's face turned into a look of disappointment, but that was replaced with a psychotic smirk when he realized "Yes, but he also said to use any force necessary. And let's be honest, what other kind of force is there, other than lethal." "Ugh, let's just grab him."

Not far away, Toothless was looking for Hiccup, calling out his name and saying, "You can't trust Drago, he's a madman, and that's the _nicest_ thing you can say about him." Hearing Toothless calling out, Astrid told the others to follow his voice. Hiccup also heard the black cat calling out, started to run again, but didn't get far before Dagur and Norbert jumped in front of him. "Don't worry, Drago sent us to protect you. We're your allies" Dagur said, trying convince him to join. Inside though, he was trying not to knock Hiccup's lights out.

Hiccup couldn't decide what to do. On one hand, these were the people who tried to kill him a few hours ago, but on the other hand, he just met Astrid and the others, so he didn't have much of a reason to trust them just yet. Suddenly, the splitting headache returned, and he stood in place, clutching his head in pain. Dagur, clearly more concerned with his own pleasure, said "Oh well, guess violence it is." He reached for his sword, only to find it missing. He looked around, only to have Toothless jump on his face, again. **"Help me you imbecile"** , Dagur cried, causing the Hysteric chief to help yank the cat off, and throw him against a tree.

Unfortunately for them, Hiccup had saw the whole thing. Rushing to Toothless' side Hiccup grabbed a broken branch, and held it up to defend himself. "Well, looks like we're doing this the hard way. I love the hard way" Dagur said, his face all a glee. Norbert charged at Hiccup, who ducked out of the way, while his opponent fall into the stream. Dagur on the other hand, found his axe, and proceeded to advance towards Hiccup. Holding his ground, Hiccup said, "You know, I was going to try to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you made one mistake." "Oh, and what would that be?" "No one hurts my best friend."

Suddenly, a blinding light engulf them. When it disappeared, Toothless was a dragon again and Hiccup was holding the sword that was left at the cove. "Okay, does this thing come with a manual? Because I really don't know how it works." While Hiccup was trying to figure out how the sword managed to teleport to him, Toothless was focused on the Trappers. He fired at Dagur, who was protected by the armor he was wearing, and fell onto Norbert, pushing the two into the stream. When they got up, they were mad.

"Stormfly, Spine Shot," came Astrid's voice, followed by a rain of spike between Hiccup and the Trappers. They looked up and saw the others on their dragons flying to them. "Drago will have our heads if we fail, so we better..." "You handle them I'll get the Night Fury" Dagur said cutting off Norbert. His raised his sword, and cried "Skrill, dragon of my people, descend!" The same Skrill he had use hours ago showed up. Norbert, seeing how obsessed Dagur was with beating Toothless, decided that it would be easier to let him have his fun and take care of the easy targets.

He grabbed his axe, and called his Death Song, along with his four-headed Snaptrapper. "Amber Trap, Methane Mist," He ordered his dragons. The Death Song started to fire its amber, while two Snaptrapper heads started releasing a green mist. The riders managed to dodge the amber, but the twins however, got an idea. "Barf, Gas." "Belch, Spark." The Zippleback obeyed the command, working together and creating an explosion, which was only amplified due to the Snaptraper's mist. Norbert got on his Death Song, and flew up to fight the young Vikings.

He grabbed a bolas he had on him, and threw it, catching Stormfly, who plummeted to the ground, and Astrid with her. "You okay girl?" "Yeah, it takes more than a fall to stop me," the dragon said. "Now go on, the others can handle the Death Song. You take care of the Snaptrapper." Astrid, listening to her dragon turned around and saw the four-headed dragon glaring at her. Grabbing her axe, Astrid called, "Axewing, come on." Axewing was a red Timberjack with orange wing edges. When Stormfly needs a break, he was Astrid's first choice for a fight, even though Timberjacks as a species were generally non-violent. "Wing Slice" she told the large dragon. Axewing then charged at the Snaptrapper, knocking it on its side.

Up in the sky, the others were battling a nutjob and a cannibal dragon. The Death Song kept firing, while Fishlegs had to come up with a plan to handle it. "Okay, here's what we have to do. We have to…" "Blah, Blah, Blah, I say we just get it", "I second that", "Me too" the others said, not bothering to listen to Fish's strategy. The Twins charged at their opponent, but were shot down, and Hookfang got shot, fortunately only his legs. "Ok, I say we listen to Fishlegs" he said, much to his riders chagrin. "What! No, we don't need any…" Snotlout began to say, before Hookfang did what Monstrous Nightmares were famous for, flaming up on just about any occasion. "Okay Fishlegs, what's the plan" Snot asked, working through the burns. "Okay, Ruff when I give the signal, have Barf pump out as much gas as he can. Tuff, have Belch ignite it when I tell you too," he directed to the twins below, "Snotlout, have Hookfang fire at the same time."

Norbert, not wanting to give them a chance, threw more bolas at them, but were burned by the dragons' fire breaths. Fishlegs reached into his pocket and grabbed a Flash Stone, a small pearl like relic. He looked at Meatlug, and said, "You think you can get around without him seeing you?" "Honey I may be slow, but I know how to get around" she said in response. While Hookfang and the Death Song were facing off, they maneuvered to behind the dragon. Norbert, realizing the pair's absence, turned around just as Fishlegs threw the Flash Stone relic, which as the name implies, released a flash that blinded Norbert and the Death Song.

"Now!" At that point, Ruff had Barf start breathing a metric ton of gas, and stopped when their foe was surrounded by the foul green mist. "Okay, Snotlout, Tuff, FIRE!" The two had their dragons fire at the mist, creating a powered-up explosion, knocking the Trapper and Death Song out of the sky, into the Snaptrapper, Dagur, his Skrill, and then into a tree. The three dragons turned back into krystals while their masters fell unconscious.

"Well, that's one way to beat a nut job," Hiccup said, trying to end the awkward moment that was occurring. "Yeah. Come on, let's go before they wake up," Astrid said, cutting Stormfly free from her trap. Toothless, who had turned back into a cat, said "Come on, I could've taken that Skrill with both wings tied to my back." "Bud, I'm getting the idea you don't like that dragon, why" Hiccup asked curiously. "Night Furies and Skrills have never gotten along, it's just the way things have always been." "Yeah, but how do you know all this, last time a checked you've been a cat most of your life." "I'm not sure, I've just always known." Hiccup was about to open his mouth to ask another question, when he heard Astrid, saying "Hey, you comin' or not?" Toothless jumped onto Hiccup's shoulder, who climbed onto Stormfly. The group left, with Axewing carrying the Twins, and leaving the two Trappers where they were.

When they were a good distance away, Astrid decided to ask Hiccup something. "So, why did you run away?" "I just had a really bad dream," Hiccup said in a slightly confused voice. "You said Drago warned you about us, why" Fishlegs asked, wanting answers himself. "I don't know, I guess he wanted to get me on his side, which is probably why he sent the 'terrible twosome' back there." "You, please, if Drago would want anyone of us in his army, it would be _me_ " Snotlout said, earning him looks from the others. "Let me rephrase that."

"You know, I can't believe that all of this is real. You guys, the dragons, even this," Hiccup said, grabbing the sword he carried at that last part. "Hey, can I see that," asked Fishlegs. Hiccup nodded yes, and gave the sword to Fishlegs when he had gotten closer on Meatlug. After examining it for a few second, he started to go all 'excited fanboy.' "Do you guys know what this is?" They didn't respond, because Fishlegs kept asking that question over and over. "WHAT IS IT" they shouted when they had enough. "The Dragon Blade" he said excitedly. "The Dragon Blade, what is that," Tuff asked. "It's only the most powerful Relic ever made, the sword Hiccup the 1st used to defeat Drago three hundred years ago, said to be able to cut through anything, transform things into a stronger form…" he kept rambling on and on about the sword powers and capabilities for the rest of the flight back to the village.

* * *

When they arrived back at the village, they went to the Great Hall, and were greeted by an angry looking council, particularly Stoick. "What were you thinking? Not only did you break into the oldest building in the village, but you stole the most important book ever written in the history of Berk." "To be fair, a majority of the time it's blank, sir" said Fishlegs, who quickly became quiet thanks to a 'not-now' glare from the angry chief. "Don't forget about going up against two insane Dragon Trappers, tipping over all of Not-so-Silent Sven's yaks, the number of times Astrid hit Snotlout for flirting with her…" Tuffnut listed, earning him a 'what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about' look from everyone present. "What? I thought we were listing things we did." "Yeah, I thought we were doing that too," said the equally dumb Baggybum. **(THAT RHYME WAS NOT ON PURPOSE).**

Choosing to ignore the ignorance from his brother and the Thorston boy, Stoick went back to his 'angry-chief rant'. "I'd expect this from the twins, but from you Astrid, I wouldn't in a million years have guessed you'd have done something so irresponsible and insubordinate." "Don't forget reckless, idiotic, imbecilic, inane," Ruff listed, earning her the same look her brother had just received. "What, I've heard a lot of words for 'stupid.' I mean, come on, people say that more than Tuff's proper name." "Wait, now we're saying things we call the Thorston boy behind his back? I'm so confused." "Remind me again why my idiot brother is on this council," Spitelout said with an annoyed tone. Gothi then proceeded to write a response, which Gobber translated as "Because he's Stoick's turkey neck." He got that last part wrong, so as usual Gothi whacked him, "Ow, brother. Because he's Stoick's brother, and yours too for that matter. You know your scribbling isn't wha' it used to be old woman." Gothi moved to hit him again, before Gobber said "But your swing, strong as ever." "Wait, what do you guys call me behind my back?"

" **Enough!"** Stoick shouted, having enough of seemed to be some kind of filler conversation. "Of all the kinds of stunts you could have pulled, _this_ was the worst. Not only do we need that book to stop Drago from escaping the Core, but we might have blown our only chance to summon the Final Rider," he said, directed mostly at Astrid. Hiccup, having enough of this, stood in of her, looked Stoick in the eye, and said "Leave her alone, she didn't know you were gonna use it." Stoick, now realizing that there was a stranger, turned to the other young Vikings and asked "Who is this?" Fishlegs put on a 'trying-so-hard-not-to-squeal-in-excitement-but it's-not-working' look and just said "HestheFinalRiderwearentjokingweknowhedoesntlooklikeitbutheweildeedtheDragonBladeturnedhiscatintoaNightFuryandfoughtoneofDragosTrappersdespiteobviouslynothavingfoughtonebefore" very quickly. (He's the Final Rider, we aren't joking. We know he doesn't look like it but he wielded the Dragon Blade, turned his cat into a Night Fury and fought one of Drago's Trappers despite obviously not having fought one before.)

Before Stoick could say a word, Old Wrinkly pushed him out of the way, well tried to at least, Stoick was almost seven-feet and weighed 400-pounds **(Is that another crack about my weight?!)** "Let me see. Hmm, a little scrawny." "Thank you for pointing out the obvious you old goat," Snotlout said with a bit of a 'duh' tone, "Plus the prophecy says it's someone with Berkian blood. All the more reason he can't be the Final Rider, and all the more reason why I clearly am, and have always been the one and only Final Ride-." Thankfully for everyone Gothi whacked him before he could say anything else. Stoick, wanting to see proof of the claim, asked "If this is true, then let us see you turn your cat into a Night Fury like Fishlegs claims." Hiccup, who still didn't have any idea how to work the sword, began to stutter and say "Well, the thing is, I don't really know how I did it." "And I have a name you know," said an irritated Toothless. "Well than if you have no proof, than I can say that you…" "Now hold on a minute Stoick," came Old Wrinkly cutting him off. "Lad, do you have this ring" he asked, showing Hiccup the ring he had used to summon the Final Rider. "Yeah, I have it," Hiccup said pulling out the ring his mother had given him the previous day. Was it yesterday? He was starting to wonder if time runs the same way in both worlds. "Well, that proves it, he is the Final Rider" the old man quickly concluded. Spitelout, not convinced jumped in and said "Just because he has the same ring doesn't mean that…" "Oh but it does. You see, there are only two of these in existence, the one he has and the one we used to summon him, which would've only worked if he was the Final Rider. And I'd say it clearly worked," Said Old Wrinkly, cutting off Spitelout from pushing the 'My-son-is-the-Final-Rider' kick, again.

Hiccup, after hearing those words, started to wonder what they meant. "Wait, you were the ones who called me here?" The council simply nodded. "Do you know what was I was doing, it was very important," he said, starting to get angry. "What, axe throwing, archery practice, hand-to-hand combat" Astrid asked. "No, and remind me to not play any sports here," Hiccup said, surprised that parents would let their children handle weapons at this age. "No, I was in the middle of an important art show and…" "Art show? How is that important, its art, just a bunch of worthless pictures" Spitelout chimed in. He only knew him a few minutes, but Hiccup knew he didn't like Spitelout. "Because, the reward money from winning was just enough to help my mother, who not only raises me alone, but is getting very sick, and no one knows what it is. But that money could have gotten her testing that could have really helped her. And now, she's at home, worried sick about me, while I'm trapped on some weird Viking universe were I am going to have to probably have to fight at least once every day of my life against psychopaths, dragons and what else, why not make me go up against an angry Godzilla. Perfect, just perfect."

"Hiccup, you might want to calm down" said a concerned Fishlegs. "Calm, **I am perfectly calm!"** He clearly wasn't, not at all. After going on for like a minute, Toothless decided to step in. "Hiccup, they didn't know. Besides, she's been in a tight spot before, she can handle being on her own without you." Hiccup knew he was right, and started to calm down. Seeing it was working, Toothless added, "and besides, it's not forever. All we have to do is help them, and we'll be back home before you now it." Unfortunatley, Baggybum ruined it. "I thought you said only one of Wodensfang's scales can send him back, and that we only had one left." "What! How can you be out, can't you just go and get one" Hiccup said, panic in his voice. Gothi scribbled down an answer to Hiccup's question, with him hoping that it was a good answer. "She said 'Because Wodensfang disappeared 250 vegetables' ow, 'years-250 years ago and no one has even caught some kind of glimpse at it. Some people say it turned into ta' lollipop guild' what does tha' even mean? Ow, correction 'some people say it died and is up in Valhalla sitting at ta' feast next to his trainer.'"

"So, you summoned me, with no way to unsummon me and, wait why did you even call me in the first place?" "Because, we think you might be the Final Rider, the only one who can stand a chance against Drago and lock him in the Core forever," said Astrid, who despite all the proof, still had a little trouble believing it. "That's nuts! Have you seen that guy, do I look like a can stop him," said Hiccup, who after _finally_ getting an answer, was told to stop a madman. "That's what I've been saying!" "Be quiet or I'm gonna claw your eyes out!"

"Look, I may not fully believe it either, but the Book of Dragons senses something in you," Astrid said, grabbing said book from her bag. Hiccup, still stunned, merely looked at the book in awe. Astrid went up to the table in the center of the hall, and placed the book. "It glowed when Hiccup was near it at the cove. Show 'em." Hiccup followed Astrid's directions and approached the Book of Dragons. However, when he reached his hand out towards the cover, nothing happened. "Maybe it was just the moonlight," said Hiccup, trying to lighten the mood. Astrid 'gently' nudged him out of the way and opened the book to a blank page. Seeing nothing in the book, Old Wrinkly fainted like a thirsty guy in a desert on a hot day in July, with the twins laughing at how ridiculous he looked. "I did say it was blank most of the time. It's some kind of protection spell," Fishlegs said with a puzzled voice. Gothi walked over and examined the book before scribbling her diagnosis. "Okay, I _know_ I'm reading tha' wrong. Okay, according to wha' she said, it's some kind of magic that hasn't been seen in along time. _Maybe._ "

"Maybe she just imagined it, like the time I breathed in Barf's gas and thought I saw a giant hairy guy in the woods with huge feet." Irritated by Tuffnut's accusations, Astrid snapped, "I know what I saw. Fishlegs, back me up on this." "Well, we didn't _exactly_ know what caused the words to appear on the pages. It could have been because of light refracting in our eyes, or we were so hyped at the time from breaking in our..." While Fishlegs was rambling on, Snotlout and the twins just didn't care to pay attention, the council was busy questioning Hiccup and deciding what to do with Astrid. "Well, I've got something to say; how am I going to stop one of Drago's psychotic goons from coming in and grabbing me in the middle of the night?"

As for Toothless, he was the only one not wrapped up in the problems of others to notice something. "Hey, would you guys stop what you're doing and maybe care to explain why words are appearing in what seems to be a pretty important book." Upon hearing that last part, they all focused their attention on the Book of Dragons to see words were in fact appearing out of nowhere. "I knew it," Astrid exclaimed in delight. _"To protect yourselves you must sound the alarm. To stop those who would do you harm, dig beneath the four that is less than the sum of the two and the two that comes before,"_ Fishlegs read from the book. Tuffnut scoffed, "Math, I thought this was a book about dragons. I mean, that's literally its name." As much as everyone hated to admit it, he kinda had a point. Wondering about the cryptic message from the book, Hiccup asked, "Is that supposed to help me avoid Dagur and, whatever his name was?" "Well, how are we gonna do that if this dumb book can't tell us how," Snotlout complained. " "Apparently the thing's just gonna what it wants."

Suddenly, the words on the page disappeared, and in their place was an image of a strange plant. It was a dull shade of grey, with nettles on the stem and leaves shaped like scales. The image glowed a faint glow, and projected itself off the page. "What is that," Hiccup asked, for he had never seen a plant like that before. "It's a Berk Bog-Rose. They grow only on Berk, and were given to Hiccup the 1st over three hundred years ago by fairies," Old Wrinkly answered. Living on Berk his entire life gave him a chance to study all kinds of flora and fauna that lived on the small island, including the more exclusive ones. "Wow, wait Fairies. They're real too?" "Yes, but they're harder to find, only come out on special occasions, such as coronations. They're enchanted to alert people to the coming of dark forces, Hiccup the 1st used them to warn himself and his allies should Drago try to sneak up on them." "We need to find these roses. If we do, than we don't have to worry about something like what happened today happening again. Now how do we find it."

"The answer is in the riddle."

* * *

 _The Core_

From deep within the dark, twisted realm that was the Core of the Barbaric Archipelago, Drago had summoned his two Trappers back after their miserable failure. He stood at the bow of his flagship at the Skygge Sea, a cold, dark place and the only body of water in that ghastly underworld, and starred at the two Trappers. "I give you _one_ simple task, I even gave you the perfect chance to do it, and yet you _still failed to capture him," he shouted. "He was a lot more challenging then we thought," Norbert tried to defend him and Dagur, "He had a this sword that turned a cat into a Night Fury, and he..."_

Upon hearing mention of a sword, Drago wanted to know what his failed henchmen was saying. "What sword," he demanded. "It had a gold hilt, with a-a green crystal on it." Drago knew he was talking about one of the only things that could stop him; the Dragon Blade. If the berkian children got the Dragon Gems before him, he would never be able to escape, and even if they had failed him, he would need all his forces to help in his escape. "We didn't know that it would.." "Enough." Norbert stopped at his masters command, worry splattered all over his face. Dagur on the other hand, wasn't worried. If Drago decided to sentence him to a bitter end, he'd at least go out in a fight. "You are lucky that I need all the Trappers I need for my escape." Dagur was slightly disappointed, while Norbert was relieved he wouldn't be going to Valhalla today.

Drago took his bull hook, and at the top of his lungs shouted, a call for one of the dragons enslaved to his army. Upon hearing the call, the dragon came to his master, a Bullrougher. It was large, roughly around the size of a Catastrophic Quaken, and able to withstand a fleet of Dragon Riders. It resembled a Gronckle, but with a body shape more akin to the Quaken, and lacked bumps on it's hide. On its nose was a foot long horn that could break through the toughest of minerals. The color of it's scales was a dull goldish brown, but was hard to see due to the armor covering it. When it landed on the deck of the ship, it fired large flare at the sky, which exploded into a small rain of hot embers.

"You will sneak under the cover of darkness into Berk, and grab the boy," Drago ordered his Trappers. "And just to make sure you don't fail," he pointed his weapon at the dragon, and began to chant;

 _"morkets makter, jeg gud dragur befaler deg. Gi dette dyret til makt til a odelegge dem som mot meg."_

As he casted the spell of empowerment, a glop of dark magic went from the tip of his weapon and engulfed the Bullrougher. Purple chains appeared on its back plate, and wrapped around the dragon. When the spell was complete, the dragons eyes turned into slits, so thin that a single piece of paper looked like a stuffed chicken by comparison. The spell had given the dragon dark power, the ability to move the chains telepathically. As a demonstration, it wrapped Dagur and Norbert up. They tried struggling, but their efforts were in vain. They also felt something weird, it was as if they were becoming old. "Don't bother. Who ever becomes trapped in those chains has their strength sapped from them, and the dragons power increase. It will drain every drop of hope, and destroy you." At that point, the two Trappers started to collapse. Drago slammed his bull hook into the deck, commanding the dragon to release them. It did so, freeing the two exhausted warriors.

"The boy was summoned because he is the Final Rider. If that's true, I can use him to escape, and than destroy him and all who oppose me," Drago explained. "Now go. I might be merciful now, but I will be less understanding in the future." The two left on the back on the empowered dragon, and left at once. When they were gone, Drago turned his attention to the water below the ship, more specifically, the massive bubbles coming from underneath. After the battle three hundred years ago, he had gone to the harshest of punishments to make sure his Bewilderbeast would not disobey him again. _"Soon I will escape this prison, and then man and dragon will bow before me."_

* * *

 _Just Outside the Berk Village_

"To protect yourselves, sound the alarm. To stop those who would due you harm, dig beneath the four that is less than the sum of two and the two that comes before." Astrid must have read that riddle over at least a dozen times. "There must be some answer to this," said Fishlegs, who hadn't been able to solve the riddle. Hiccup decided to write the problem down, using the Dragon Blade to write in the ground. "4 2+2. That doesn't make any sense." "Duh, I told you this dumb book was broken," said an annoyed Snotlout, who was aggravated at the book for not only giving them impossible to solve, but for not giving them the answer in the first place. "Maybe '4' is suppose to be a number of people," Astrid suggested. "Not likely, I mean there are seven of us." "Six." "He counted me, unlike you Hiccup is considerate." Toothless had just pushed the wrong button.

"What was that," Snotlout asked-shouted. "What do you think it means? Oh right, you _don't_ think about anyone but yourself." "Alright Toothless that's enough, we don't have time for this," Hiccup said to prevent a fight. The two gave each other an angered glare, and just agreed. "Anyway, it said we're supposed to dig beneath the four, and even if there was only four of us, it could have been anywhere we were today; the cove, the forest, the great hall. It's just to risky," said Fishlegs, who was having trouble figuring the riddle out.

"Tell you what, you guys go figure it out, and I'll go start training," Snotlout said with no qualms about leaving the group. He summoned and mounted Hookfang, and flew to the forest. "Snotlout, Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi." "How do you guys put up with him," Hiccup asked. In the few hours he had known Snotlout, he had done nothing but get on his nerves. "Welcome to my world," Astrid said, sympathetic to Hiccup's pain.

* * *

While the riders were busy trying to solve the riddle, a certain ex-Berserker heir and Hysteric chief had arrived in the forest, and started to walk to the village. "The sun's almost down. I'd say we've timed it perfectly. Once it gets dark, we capture that Hiccup," Norbert said, assure of the plan. "Yes," Dagur started, "But I have a different plan. We let him summon the Night Fury, have 'big guy' over here tie him down, and I capture that Night Fury, return to Berserk, steal my rightful title as chief from my father, and once Drago gets out, become the mightiest chief known in the history of the Archipelago!" In his fit of deranged excitement, he had riled up the Bullrougher, causing the dragon to swing its chains into a nearby boulder, breaking it like a twig. Unphazed, the two continued walking, leaving the remains of the boulder to show the sheer force Drago possessed.

* * *

Snotlout and Hookfang arrived at the old training spot the others had claimed when they were kids. It was still in good condition, minus the multiple gashes in the trees from Astrid's Axe. Some were recent, but a majority were from trying to relieve her anger at life **cough,** Snotlout. Exhausted, Hookfang asked, "Are we done, my wings are still aching from the fight." Snotlout wasn't listening, he was to concerned with his problems. " _Who does that guy think he is? First he shows up out of nowhere, then everyone thinks he's the Final Rider, and now he thinks he can solve that stupid book's problem. What's next, Astrid starts dating him and people actually make him chief? Ha, that wouldn't ever happen, he's too weak. Besides, it may as well be my birthright, and who knows what might happen if I don't become chief,_ " he said to himself. A majority of his attitude came from his father's teachings that only the strong can survive, and how the weak can only live because of it. Because of that, he tried to make himself look like he was the greatest at everything, and his father wouldn't accept nothing less. There was this one time two years ago, the final day of the annual Thawfeast Games, Astrid and Snotlout had tied, causing a tie breaker round the next day. Spitelout put a lot of pressure on his son to win the games, which he had won plenty of times before, plus the Jorgenson clan had won those games for generations, probably because only one generation at a time was allowed to compete, which was a stupid rule to begin with.

" _Jeg innkalle den som har en gigantsisk holdning"_ came a whisper that sounded like Ruff's voice. Suddenly, he glowed a faint red, and disappeared. "(scoff) Guess I'm gonna have to go all the way be back there. This is what I get for bonding with the guy with the small brain and big mouth."

* * *

Ruff's transportation spell worked, and Snotlout fell flat on the ground before the people he had just abandoned moments ago. "There, happy?" Snotlout got up, wiping the trace amount of dirt off his face. "What were you thinking Snotlout, we **_all_** have to solve this riddle," said an irritated Astrid. "Yeah, even I knew that, and people say I'm dumb," said Tuffnut. "Did you figure the riddle out of not," Snotlout asked, trying to avoid more questions. No, we tried everything we could think of, we even tried a time of day, but that still didn't even work," said a sad Fishlegs. "Maybe you can use that ' _Sight of the Dragons'_ spell and that replicator relic to warn us," Toothless suggested. "Oh no, I am **_not_** gonna do that all day. Besides, do you know how exhausting it can be to do that? Plus how can I defend the village if I'm busy trying to stop 'em from coming in," Ruff complained, but it was true. "Well, than we definitely have to figure this riddle out."

"'Dig beneath the four, that is less than the sum of the two and the two that comes before' what does that mean," said a puzzled Astrid. "Hey, maybe we should just go ask someone for help. There's this old guy at 569 and he seems pretty smart." "Wait, what did you say," asked Hiccup, who became interested in something Tuff had said. "We should ask someone for help.?" "No." "He seems pretty smart.?" "No, the one in the middle." "This old guy at 569.?" "Yes that, what do you mean 569," Hiccup said with a mixture of relief, and annoyance.

"He mean he lives at building five-hundred and sixty nine. It's a code system invented by Stoick's grandfather, Hamish the first, as a way to deliver important information to hidden locations, should the village ever be invaded. Every building in the village has an address code that determines what was delivered to it," Fishlegs explained. That's when it hit Hiccup like a slap in the face. "That's it! Our "4 2+2" is an address," he exclaimed. Astrid picked up a twig, and wrote '422' in the dirt. "It can't be four hundred is greater than twenty two," Fishlegs explained. **(Ugh).** "It's a trick," Toothless suddenly said. He grabbed a twig and his mouth, and solved the problem. **(OW, it hurts! What? The fact that there's math in this.)** "The twenty two is two hundred and twenty, which is greater than four," he said with the twig in his mouth. "Than the address must be," "Two hundred and twenty four," Hiccup and Fishlegs concluded. "Where's 224?" "Mildew's House. It's on the other side of town. Come on." At that point, Hookfang flew in, but got angry when Snotlout said "Come on Hookfang, we gotta go to Mildew's place." The Riders got on there dragons, except Hiccup, Toothless was a cat.

Unknown to them, Dagur and Norbert were hiding a few feet away. "They're after something." "Ya think," Dagur replied sarcastically. He chuckled darkly, "They're making this too easy, alone, in the dark, we can get six for the price of one." "But he only wants Hiccup, that was the plan." " **This is the new one,** " Dagur said before catching his breathe, "If we catch all of them, no one will ever know who took them," he grinned sinisterly, before running after the Riders. "This kid is gonna be the end of me."

* * *

 _Mildew's House_

The Riders landed at Mildew's house at the back of the Great Hall, and the place was a mess. There was a field of rotten cabbages, the building had a giant gapping hole in the roof, and it smelled like sheep barf. "Ugh, remember the time Stoick had us clear out this fields and Hookfang and I almost ripped each other apart." "Yeah, it was the time the twins ate that cabbage." "Don't eat it," Barf and Belch told their trainers, who were about to eat more cabbage. "Does this guy have any concern about his health," Hiccup asked, disgusted by the smell of the cabbage field. "Nope, in fact about a year a go he left the tribe and joined the Outcasts, although most people say he was kicked out for being too annoying," Astrid answered. "Oh come on, he can't be that bad." "Trust me, he is. Thirty years ago, there was this storm called the Blizzard of Olaf, they say it was so bad, it took 'em a week to dig him out, and the rest of their lives to wonder why they bothered," Fishlegs told Hiccup, who had a 'you win' expression.

The group started digging, and after about five minutes Hiccup said, "I get that Mildew is supposed to be old, but from what I'm getting this place is even older." Fishlegs looked at him and said "This is one of the few buildings left from the original village. Mildew's family lived here for generations until he moved." "So, at least no one will complain about us thrashing the place." "Wait, you mean we're not gonna get in trouble for this," Tuff asked. Hiccup nodded and said 'Yeah." "Great, Barf, Belch, start blowing up the place." Before either head could do anything, Toothless glared at them and said, "Not now."

They kept digging, until eventually they found the roses, all perfectly alive and glowing a bright silvery color. That was the problem. Suddenly, the sound of the dragons' growling got their attention, and saw Dagur, Norbert and the large Bullrougher standing at the edge of the fields. "You can leave those flowers, you're not going to need them where you're going," Norbert said in a threating tone. Dagur chuckled, grabbed his sword and started to move towards the Riders, who along with their dragons took defensive stances. "At least we know they work," Hiccup said trying to put a positive spin on their situation.

Ruff and Tuff grabbed their daggers and called out more dragons, "Torch 'em Torch." "Scauldy, douse 'em." A large orange Typhoomerang and greyish-turquoise Scauldron appeared and joined the fight. Hiccup took the Dragon Blade, and whispered "Please work, please work, please work." He got his proof when he heard Toothless' Night Fury roar. Unconcerned by the added dragons, Dagur told the Bullrougher to "unleash your chains." The dragon then proceeded to move the chains and aimed them at Scauldy and Torch. The two tried to move away, but the chains were faster and wrapped around the two, knocking them to the ground. The two then were coved in fires matching their scale colors, and the flames moved across the chains, engulfing the Bullrougher, who proceeded to start growing. When the flames died down, the chains unwrapped, and the two dragons turned back into stones on their trainers daggers.

Shocked, Hiccup said, "Okay, that might be a problem." The Bullrougher fired a blast at the sky, and the Riders had to move to avoid getting hit by the embers once they started to rain down. "Hookfang, Fire Jacket!" The Nightmare than covered itself in flames proceeded to ram into the opposing dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon not only grew in size and strength, but speed and agility as well, effortlessly dodging the attack while Hookfang got his horns pinned to floor by the Bullroughers claws. The chains once again wrapped around one of the Riders dragons, and sapped its strength, defeating Hookfang. "Hey," Snotlout shouted, only to end up trapped in the chains as well. "Stormfly, Spine Sho.." Astrid couldn't finish her command, because she along with everyone else except Hiccup get trapped in the chains. All of the dragon's except Toothless were defeated, and the Bullrougher was almost three times as large. And considering the fact it was three times as large as a Grocnkle in the first place, it was now pretty darn big.

Hiccup didn't know what to do, and Toothless was struggling to not get defeat, especially since he wasn't sure what wouldn't happen to him if he was beaten because he didn't have a krystal form. "Give up," Dagur told Hiccup. He looked Dagur died in the eye, and said "I may not know if I can beat Drago, but I can't do it if I give up. Your dragon maybe stronger, but that doesn't mean it's invincible." The crystal on the Dragon Blade began to glow again, but this time was different. Instead of a blue light, it was fiery red. Suddenly, the Bullrougher was engulfed in flames, and they started to move towards Toothless. The Boullrougher began to shrink back to normal while Toothless was engulfed in the flames. When the disappeared, Toothless became, simply put, new and improved.

Instead of jet black, he was red, with an orange underbelly. The spines on his back had become two rows of spikes, with glowing orange flames on the edges of his wings, tail fins, and claws. Running between the spikes was a glow of the same color, which seemed to be coming from the inside, as it was visible in the back of his throat and nostrils. His forest green eyes were the same, but with a red tint. He had also gained two curved horns that pointed forward, making him all the more menacing.

"Okay, that's new," Fishlegs said in awe. Dagur angrily shouted "HORN CHARGE!" The Bullrougher then tried ramming Toothless, but he caught his horn with his teeth. Then to the surprise of everyone, he threw the Bullrougher into Mildew's house, bringing it down. Getting up, the Bullrougher took to the skies, with Toothless keeping up. When they were both high enough, the Bullrougher fired a blast in the sky. It was in vain, for Tooothless was able to dodge all the sparks that rained down. The Bullrougher kept firing, Toothless kept dodging the sparks from the sky, until, down to its last shot, the Bullrougher fired directly at him. But, Toothless was able to catch the flame in his mouth, not even bothered by the heat. Then he fired it back in the form of a crimson flame as large as the Bullrougher. It fell from the sky, and crashed into the ground. The armor covering it glowed, and then burst into a silver light, disappearing. After getting up, the Bullrougher shook its head, looked around, and flew off.

Dagur and Norbert were shocked. They had no choice but to retreat. Toothless' body glowed orange, and returned to normal, and then back into a cat. "I've got to do that again." "How, how did you do that," Astrid asked. "The sword is supposed to turn things into a stronger form, so maybe it gave Toothless the power it needed to defeat the Bullrougher," Fishlegs hypothesized. Hiccup walked over to the Bog-Roses, which were starting to lose their glow. "Well it looks like we won't have to worry about them trying to kidnap me again. All we have to do is set them around the village, and then we're good as gold." "We get gold? Yes." "It's an expression Snotlout." "Yeah even I knew that, it's as obvious as Ruff's butt." After hearing that comment, Ruff the proceeded to push her brother to the ground and beat him up.

While they others were busy trying to break up the twins, a red light was watching from the far side of the fields. "Mastering the Dragon Blade will be crucial to defeating Drago, and I do believe that Hiccup has taken the first step in doing so."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Odds are chapters are gonna be this long. How it came out,, I don't know the episode this was based on wasn't one of my favorites. So, spell translations: _"morkets makter, jed gud dragr befaler deg. Gi dette til makt til a odelegge dem som mat meg." is "powers of darkness, I, the god of dragons, command you. Give this beast the power to destroy all who oppose me.' while "jeg innkalle den som har en gigantsisk " is " I summon the one with a big ego" "_ HEY" So I guess you weren't expecting any book dragons in this. But there are. I did a little makeover to have it fit in with the other dragons, as for the fire blast, I wanted to put my own touch. Toothless' 'fire mode' so to speak, will appear again, but it won't be the only new power he has. Review reply time:**

 **Maga016: Thank you once again for the complement. I think that's the problem people have with AU's, trying to fit the characters in while keeping them the same characters we all know.**

 **So I decided that instead of updating every two weeks, I'll update the second week and last full week of every month. If you have any complaints, well, look how long this chapter was, I just couldn't keep that promise. However, I can keep this promise, if I have an announcement like I won't update on time, or I need help, I'll tell you at the end of a chapter. One of the things that gets on my nerves is when I see a new chapter in a story I'm following and see that it's only a note.**

 **So please review ( I mean please, I appreciate the support I'm getting, but I want to hear from you guys. You can even just say if you spotted a reference or figure out the inspiration for my O/C's)**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was posted on Thanksgiving, 2015**


	5. Chapter 3 (Dragon Island)

**Author's Note: Okay my fellow people, here we are with the next chapter. I'm really proud about how it turned out, it gets pretty deep at one part. I'm gonna be honest, I felt like the last chapter was filler, like a majority of episodes in the Pokemon anime, am I right? (The audience burst into laughter, except for the fans wearing Pokemon merch,) I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean any offense, but let's be honest we could do without all those episodes about magikarp. I've got an important announcement, but it can wait 'till the end.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I OWN nothing except O/C's, the idea to write this and all that other stuff.**

 **P.S. I forgot to mention this, the objects that people use for summoning dragons are called 'Krystal Medians'**

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Dragon Island_

 _The Forge_

It had been almost a week since Hiccup had arrived on Berk, and minus the people trying to kidnap him, it was mostly peaceful. He was given new clothes that resemble his old ones, but with a Viking look to it. He managed to find his way around the village, although he only needed to know the locations of the Berk Library and the Great Hall. He also had made a friend in Gobber, he even let Hiccup stay at the forge. The people of Berk were very welcoming to him, but inside he felt like a sore thumb. Everyone there was a strong, powerful warrior, and he, he was a scrawny kid from another world who had to stop the greatest evil ever known, but he had no idea how to do it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal clanging, and terrible singing. _"Oh, I've got my axe, and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face, I'm a Viking threw and threw."_ Hiccup remembered Gobber was working on some armor for him, so he'd be able to handle himself when he runs into Trappers again. "Hey Gobber, do you have to sing that song?" "It's my happy song lad, I always sing it when I work," Gobber replied. "Well could you dial it down, I'm trying to sleep," Toothless complained, he was trying to get his daily cat nap **(Boo)**. He looked at the fire in the center, and saw it was dying. "Ah uh, looks like I need help." He went over to a rack of home-made prosthetics and swapped his hammer with his usual hook. "Alright Grump, time ta' wake up," he said and summoned his dragon, who proceeded to fall asleep on the spot.

Astrid and the others had told Hiccup that there were many dragon species, each one different from the last. But what really caught his attention were the names. Some were cool and threatening, like Night Fury and Screaming Death, others were okay, such as Scauldron or Terrible Terror. Then there were those that sounded extremely weird; Gronckle, Zippleback, Submarriper. When he first saw Grump, he had mistaken him for a deformed Gronckle, but learned he was a cousin species called a Hotburple, seriously who comes up with these names.

"Grump, if you don't light the fire, I'm gonna have ta' give you up for adoption," Gobber said to the half-awake dragon. "That's what you said last time, and every time before that," the lazy dragon said, "Now just let me sleep." "Oh no, you're going light the fire, right now." Sighing, Grump agreed, and fired a 'Molten Blast' at the fire place, but was a little too big and nearly set the whole fireplace a blaze. "Grump, how many times do I have ta' tell you ta' tone it down when you just reignite fires," complained Gobber. "Well excuse me if I've got a strong fire blast."

Hiccup turned his attention away from the two, they sounded like an old married couple, and stared out the forge window. He could see the docks from there, and spotted some people on a ship. From what he was told, it was a trade ship belonging to a man named Johan. Fishlegs told him he traveled throughout the Archipelago, and helped relationships between tribes that were too far apart to communicate. From where he stood, he could see Johan bartering with customers, including Stoick. Johan gave him a piece of paper, what else he couldn't see. He assumed it was a letter from an allied tribe. Old Wrinkly told him that even though most tribes were on good terms, they formed alliances, just in case a war broke out. Berk closest allies were the Outcast tribe, led by Alvin the Treacherous, an old friend of Stoick, who had a reputation for being, well, treacherous, along with the all-female Bog-Burglars, the equally-as-stubborn-as-them Meatheads, and the Berserkers, who even though Dagur was one of them, they all seemed like fine gentleman by comparison.

Noticing his concern, Gobber asked, "Alright lad, what's on your mind?" "It's just, I don't fit in," he answered. "Now tha' isn't true, I mean you… well you… you've got a dragon just like everyone else in ta' village." "Yes, but Toothless seems like he can only be a dragon when I'm in danger," he said gesturing to Toothless, who managed to final get to sleep, "Besides, look at me, everyone here is this big, strong warrior," Hiccup said sadly. Gobber took a minute to respond, before saying, "Not true, in fact Hiccup the 1st, our greatest leader, was just like you; smaller than everyone else, but the smartest and best dragon trainer of his time. In fact, he looked exactly like you, except his hair was more reddish." Hiccup smiled slightly at Gobber's attempt to cheer him up. "Tell ya what lad, how'd you like a job."

Hiccup was confused by that, asked what he meant. "I mean I'm growing old, not much time before I go up ta' Valhalla," he said with slight exaggeration, "and I need someone ta' help me man the place, so I'm offering you a spot as my apprentice, I can teach you everything I know." "Thank you for the offer Gobber, but I'm gonna have to say no. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to learn something here, but you think I could handle working in a place like this?" Gobber looked disappointed, and said "Well, no, but you could have improved and start being less of, 'this,'" gesturing to Hiccup at that last part. "You just gestured to all of me." "My point is, I could have helped you fit in around here and stopped feeling like an oddball. Okay tha' came out wrong."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to reschedule that," said Stoick walking into the forge. "I need to you to come with me, it's important," he directed to Hiccup. He had a little bit of a 'now?' expression on his face, to which Stoick said, "Yes, now. This is about how you can lock Drago in the Core. As the Final Rider, you have to" "What if you're wrong?" Hiccup cut off Stoick before he could continue. "This isn't my world, it's yours. My mom needs me too, and I still don't have a way back." "Hiccup, I told you, your mom will be fine," Toothless said trying to reassure Hiccup, having woken up on the conversation. Still unsure, he decided to go anyway, thinking it might help him get home. He turned to Gobber, and said "Thanks for trying though." Smiling, Gobber said, "Anytime lad." Hiccup walked behind Stoick, Toothless trailing behind him. In the background, he could hear Gobber continue singing, _"Oh, I've got my club, and I've got my bludgeon, and sixteen Berserkers locked in my dungeon. I'm a Viking through and through._

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless followed Stoick up to the Great Hall. When they arrived, they went to the right side of the hall, and stood in front of shields with pictures of people on them. One of the larger ones was of a man who looked a lot like him, which he assumed was Hiccup the 1st from the description Gobber gave him. "I know this must be hard for you, being in a strange place, without any family to help you, wondering why you're here," Stoick said, trying to help Hiccup become at peace with the situation. "I know why I'm here, I just don't know how I'm supposed to do it," he replied. "I should be helping my mom, going to school, back home, where people's idea of sports doesn't involve throwing sharp objects, not trying to stop a madman from conquering an entire world."

Stoick looked at Hiccup, and said, "Well, if you're going to stop Drago, you should at least know how." Hiccup was confused by that, but Stoick didn't say a thing. Instead he grabbed one of the torches on the wall, and pulled it down. Suddenly, a sound like something was moving came out of nowhere. Hiccup looked around and saw the chair at the back of the hall had moved, revealing a large hole in the wall. "Hmm, secret passageway, a bit cliché," Toothless remarked about the old, 'pull a torch on the wall and reveal a passage trick.' "Come on, Astrid and the others are waiting for us," Stoick said. Hiccup and Toothless glanced at each other, and followed Stoick again, unaware a small black dragon was following them.

They walked for about five minutes, and when they stopped they had arrived in a room the size of the one they were just in. There was a table in the center, with a map of the entire Archipelago covering it. The walls had carvings, appearing to tell a story of Hiccup the 1st. "This was the base were Hiccup and his allies had used in the war against Drago. It was thought to have been lost after the war was over, but about ten years ago, it was rediscovered, and kept a secret incase Drago returned," came Fishlegs' voice. Hiccup turned around to see him, Astrid, the twins and Snotlout standing to the right of the only entrance.

Over the past few days, he gotten to get to know the group, and had different opens on them. Fishlegs became like a second best friend, the two bonding over their shared intellect. The twins were a mixed bag, they were too destructive and unfocused, but they were relatively loyal. Snotlout was really the only one he could hardly consider a friend. He was too conceited, and only really seemed concerned about himself. However, yesterday he had seen his father scold him for something, and when he left Snotlout looked like he was disappointed in himself. Snotlout's father was hard on him and Hiccup never knew his father, so at least they had 'daddy issues' in common. Astrid, well he had developed a crush on her the moment he saw her. But he didn't exactly have the nerve to say that to her face, mostly because she had seen her knock Snotlout on his side when he tried flirting with her. When they were with the others, she was nice, but tough and had a slight attitude, but when she was teaching him to fight, she was less aggressive, and helped him a lot. He thought she might be returning his feelings, but the others told him she was never going out with anyone, and when they told him of her family life, he felt kind off sorry for her. Maybe if her childhood had been a little better, than maybe it could have worked out.

"Great outfit," Snotlout remarked about Hiccup's new look. "Just tryin' to fit in." "You might want to rethink the shoes though," Fishlegs said, making Hiccup realize he was still wearing the shoes he had when he arrived. "Well, it's temporary. Once I stop Drago, I'm gone," Hiccup remarked about the situation. Toothless wanted to say something, but Stoick was quicker.

"And that is why I called you all here." Stoick directed the teens' attention to one of the carvings; Hiccup the 1st and Wodensfang were standing on an icy terrain, the Dragon Blade embedded in the ground. Above them, a strange orb was shining, with one of the rays aimed towards Drago, who was falling into the ground. "The Glyph, the object used to sell Drago in the Core, locking him forever in darkness. The Core is a realm where time doesn't move, and has been down there for three centuries. He mastered powerful magic, allowing him to communicate with those on the surface. He forced many a Viking to become members of his army, with Dragon Trappers capturing dragons and sending them to Drago to be enslaved in his time, and does so even now." As Stoick spoke, Hiccup became disgusted at Drago's actions. Not only did he try to conquer the world for no reason, but he might have destroyed countless lives, and forced innocent creature to do his bidding. He might have only been on Berk for a few days, but he knew that dragons didn't seem to mean any harm. Except for maybe a few wild ones that wondered in, but the villagers were able to train them relatively easy. What happened to him that caused his to go down that dark road?

While Hiccup was busy trying to figure out why Drago did everything he did, Toothless noticed a different carving, this one of different shapes, similar to the ones on the Book of Dragons, "Hey, what are those supposed to be?" "They're Dragon Gems," Fishlegs answered, "All eleven contain magic, not much on their own, but when all placed in the Glyph, it can seal Drago in the Core forever." Hiccup heard that, and realized that the Glyph was how he can stop Drago. He had hope now. "The Glyph is also the only thing powerful enough to break the seal and let him escape the Core." And that broke the hope. If he got the Gems and stopped Drago, he could go home. If he failed and Drago got them instead, he would not only escape, but the end of the world happens, and he never gets to see his mother again. "Well, where are they? If we can get them first, then you don't have to worry about Drago again." Everyone looked away from him, until Fishlegs said, "About that, they kinda, sorta, maybe scattered after Drago was stopped." And that practically incinerated any remains of hope. "And the Glyph totally disappeared after its only use." And that killed Hiccup.

To review everything that happened to Hiccup in the past week: got a one-of-a-kind ring from his mom, got transported to a world were the only people are Vikings who have pet dragons, found out his best friend was one and can talk, found out he was some kind of chosen one, and has to stop a madman by finding multiple precious stones that have been missing for centuries, and something that might have been destroyed.

He looked around, hoping one of the carvings could tell him what to do. He stopped when he saw one of a volcano, and above it was a sword and book. "Hey, what is that place?" "That's Dragon Island. People believe that that was where the first dragon came into the world, and where the Dragon Blade and Book of Dragons were created," Fishlegs explained. "Oh, so that's why that island's famous. I thought it was because that was just its thing," Tuff obliviously said. "Yeah like Snotlout being a woman repellent." "Hey, I don't 'repel' women, I _attract_ them," Snotlout said, eyeing Astrid at that last part. She covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from vomiting. But what Fishlegs said gave Hiccup an idea, "If that's where the book was written, and dragons came from the island, then maybe one of the Gems could be there."

"How do you know? Maybe it could be on a rock in the middle of nowhere," Snotlout said, arguing with Hiccup's idea. "As much as I hate to admit it Hiccup, Snotlout has a point," Fishlegs said, much to his own disgust, "The place's one big volcano, waiting to erupt, and it has a cave system that you could get lost in for days." Suddenly, a light shined from inside his bag. He reached into it to reveal the Book of Dragons, but frankly since he was such a mega dragon geek, no one bothered to make a comment. He opened it up, and stopped at the page that was glowing. Once he stopped, the light disappeared, and a picture of a volcano started to appear on the page. It was Dragon Island. Underneath the image said, _"In the island where it all began, a precious Gem lies."_ All of that just proved Hiccup's theory.

Suddenly, a loud shattering was heard. The group turned and saw a small armored black dragon standing next to a shattered vase. "A Night Terror," Fishlegs exclaimed. The Night Terror shrieked, and said, "Yo, sorry about all this secrecy, it's just business. Now, if youse would excuse me, I need to tell Drago where that Dragon Gem is." "Oh no you don't you diet Night Fury," Toothless said before pouncing at the Night Terror, who managed to dodge the attack. "Diet, I'll have you know I'm a pureblood Night Terror, of course you're one to talk slumpy, you're a cat." Snotlout charged at the Night Terror, "I've got him", but fell on his face faster than Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars. The small dragon flew around the room, with the twins trying to capture it. "I've got him." "No, I've got him." But neither one of them cared to look forward, and bumped into each other. The Night Terror flew towards the exit, only to be blocked off by Stoick. The Night Terror flew back, with Stoick telling the teens to "Corner it." Astrid grabbed her axe and began to chase to spying dragon around. She tried to throw her axe, but it got stuck in a wall. "Oh no, the carving!" "Worry about that latter Fish-breath!" The twins got up and tried to get the Night Terror, only for it to fire a small stream at them. He then fired another one at Stoick, or more specifically, his helmet, one of the few things he had left of his wife. Stoick had to duck out of the way, allowing the terror to escape. He tried to get up, but instead grabbed his leg in a small pain.

"I thought I told you to corner it," Stoick said to the group of teens. "In a round room? Even _I_ knew that wouldn't work," Tuffnut said, as wrong as he said it, he was sort of right. Astrid looked at the faint outline of the Night Terror, and said, "We have to hurry, or else Drago will have the first Gem."

* * *

 _The Docks_

The teens and their dragons stood waiting for Stoick, who was having his injury checked. He came down with Old Wrinkly, but with a limp. "What'd Gothi say?" "She said it's just a sprain, he didn't break anything." "Pity," Tuffnut said in disappointment. "Great, now can we get going," Snotlout rudely said. Stoick grabbed his axe to summon a dragon, but Hiccup stopped him from doing it. "No offense Stoick, but we need everyone alright, and your sprain will slow us down." "Nonsense, besides this is your first time going to Dragon Island, you can't go unprepared," Stoick argued. "It's alright Chief. Besides I think that that only the six of us and our dragons can handle it," Astrid said.

"What makes you think you can handle it alone," Wrinkly asked. "Because the book said 'warriors of light', meaning that there could be more than one Final Rider, and it gave that message when the six of us were all near it," Astrid said to the chief. "She does have a point, it was ' _warriors'_ , Barf said. "Yes, and to reiterate: you summoned Hiccup after Astrid meet Drago, she and Fishlegs found Hiccup, who were found by Snotlout and the Twins, the evidence seems to be pointing to the group as a whole." Belch continued.

"Wait, first Drago, then Astrid, then Hiccup, then the book, you two are the most confusing Zippleback I know," Wrinkly said. Apparently it was becoming easy to confuse him in his old age. "What does that have to do with the Gem and Dragon Island?" "Which you _aren't_ going to on your own," Stoick said in his 'discussion over' voice. "How are you even going to find it?" "Well sir…"

While the others were talking about how the Book of Dragons could lead them to the Dragon Gems, Hiccup was looking at his reflection in the blade of his sword. When he looked at the others, he saw people who had unity and trust, a family. Everyone made it seem like he had always been one of them, but when he saw his reflection, he saw someone who didn't belong, an outcast. He didn't know Toothless was staring at him, looking worried about his friend. He knew that Hiccup wanted to fit in, but he also knew there was something else he was concerned about, but he decided not to ask. He _did_ however decide to tell Hiccup to take up Gobber's offer when they get back.

"Come on, we need to see what the clue is," Fishlegs called out, getting Hiccup and Toothless' attention. They walked over to the others and looked at the Book of Dragons. _"The diamond in the crown of the northern fire is the beginning and nearly the end. Your only guide will be to go back in time. Follow the hour back almost to the end. Only the most confident may succeed."_ "Time travel? Doesn't this book know time travel ends up getting really complicated," Toothless remarked about the clue being similar to every episode in television where the characters time travel and mess up the past.

"We can figure it out when we get there. Until then, Hiccup, who do you want to ride with," Astrid asked him. However, he didn't answer, he was too busy wrapped up in his self-doubt. She asked again, but when that didn't work, she walked up to him. "Hiccup?" That's when he snapped out of it and said, "Ah, yeah you were saying?" "Who do you want to ride with?" "Fishlegs'll be fine." The group mounted there dragons, with Hiccup saying, "I really need to get another dragon, or at least find a way to make Toothless one permanently," and were off.

When they were far enough away from the island, Fishlegs said, "The volcano on the island is constantly semi-dormant, so we can't fly straight in through the crater." "So I guess we're taking the long way around," Hiccup said. "Ugh, why can't Ruff just use a transport spell and take use there,' Snotlout complained. "Because the island is filled with a special kind of magnetic rock that blocks any kind of magic," Ruff said. When they others looked at here she said, "What? We don't never pay attention, just rarely."

* * *

 _A few minutes away from Dragon Island, Western Side_

The Night Terror was flying over the ocean, not far away from the entrance to the Core, when suddenly, "Fire!" A net came at the small dragon, trapping it. He fell like a rock, and landed on the deck of a ship. "Who did this? Come on, or are youse too chicken to face me?" "Well what do we have here," came the voice of the ship's captain. He was about twenty years old, with dark hair and brown eyes. He was quite tall, a little over six feet, and was very muscular. He had blue tattoos on his chin, and his clothes were an almost 'non-Viking' attire, with a Stormcutter pin on his outfit.

"I am Eret, son of Eret, finest dragon trapper alive," he announced. The Night Terror looked over to the side, and breaking the fourth-wall said, "More like Han Solo Jr. am I right." "Who's he talking to?" "I don't know?" "What's one of Drago's spy dragons doing so far out here in the middle of the ocean," he asked the small dragon. "You'll never break me. See I once got caught by Lava-Louts, they didn't manage to get a drop of information out of me," the capture dragon said. "Alright then, guess we're going to have to do this the hard way." Eret grabbed one of the swords at his side, and a cold artic wind picked up. "If you thought Skrills and their lightning were bad, you should see this dragon. One that lives to stop them, the Skrill Chiller."

When the wind died down, Eret's dragon had arrived on the deck, freezing a good portion of it. The dragon was a Snow Wraith. But this one was different from the other ones. Its back was covered in sharp plates, making the dragon look like it was cut from a glacier. Its scales glistened like fresh snow reflecting the sun after a storm. And unlike other dragons in Drago's army, it wasn't covered in armor. The dragon all around gave off an ice cold feeling, making the crew of the ship shiver in its presence. The Skrill Chiller earned its name after a legend about an archer who rode the north wind, hunting down Skrills, until Thor struck him down for harming the lightning breathing dragons. The story says you could still see him during storms, readying to fire an arrow at any Skrill he encountered.

Smugly smiling, Eret said, "If you can tell me what you're doing, then I won't have my dragon turn you into an ice sculpture. You have tell I get to one." "I'll never talk!" "Ten, nine, eight…" As Eret got closer, the Skrill Chiller started to prepare itself to fire, and the Night Terror looked like it was starting to crack under pressure. "…four, three, two…" "Okay, I talk, I'll talk." The Snow Wraith stopped itself, and the Night Terror talked. "Six children from Berk are heading to Dragon Island to get a Dragon Gem. They know where it is."

Eret turned to his crew, and said, "Change of plans lads. You'll deliver this batch of dragons to Drago, while I go get the Gem. And by all means, make sure out guest is comfortable with the others." One of the crew members grabbed the Night Terror, and put in in a cage. Two more members opened the hatch on the deck, revealing at least a dozen dragons underneath. They all looked terrified, none wanting to be enslaved to Drago, and threw the Night Terror in with them. Eret got on Skrill Chiller, and flew to Dragon Island as fast as the wind.

* * *

 _A few minutes from Dragon Island, Southern Side_

As the riders got closer to Dragon Island, the mountain at the center only seemed to get bigger. Large sea spires circled the isle, as if it was a wall. They could see the smoke rising from the fiery crater, hear the thundering sound of a rockslide coming from the mountain's side, and see a few specks of green, implying that life was capable of living there, despite the islands barren look. The whole place seemed to be breathing, and seemed to know the riders were coming, warning them not to come any closer, like a mother bear protecting her young.

Fishlegs was in awe of the island. He had always wanted to visit the place, ever since he was younger. Sadly, his parents wouldn't allow him, saying it was too dangerous for him, and while he could see that they weren't exaggerating about how intimidating it looked, he couldn't help but feel amazed by the mere sight of the island. The twins were more interested in the volcano, imagining the damage and destruction that it could cause, and, more importantly, why didn't Berk have one. Snotlout wasn't impressed, an island with a mountain, big deal, they live on one just like it. Astrid wasn't looking at the island, she was busy rereading the clue from the Book of Dragons to notice how close they were. She couldn't figure out what the book meant about going back in time.

Hiccup had an expression similar to Fishlegs', only more toned down on excitement. He had to admit, the place was amazing. Toothless on the other hand felt strange. He could hear voices coming from the island, as if someone or something on the island were trying to prepare for the groups arrival. He heard things like, "They're coming this way, what should we do?", "We let them get the Dragon Gem without seeing us and then leave, that's what!", and most amusingly, "Ugh, I can't, I just can't deal with these two anymore." Apparently the third voice had dealt with the other two for a long time.

"Wow, look how incredible it is," Fishlegs said like a child on Snoggletog, which was apparently some kind of Viking Christmas, morning. "Just imagine how it looks on the inside," Tuffnut said, with Barf and Belch flying closer to Meatlug. "Yeah, all those tunnels you could get lost in," "What might be living in them, maybe a Whispering Death," "the lava that you could fall into if you don't watch your step," the two said, turning Fishlegs' sense of amazement into worry. Seeing that it was working, they combined what they just said, "A Whispering Death made out of lava." Sensing her rider was afraid, Meatlug looked at the twins, and barked, "Hey, leave him alone or you won't be able to tell which twin you are!" Seeing the Gronckle defend Fishlegs, the Zippleback riders flew away. "Phew, thanks girl," Fishlegs said, scratching behind Meatlug's ear.

The group landed on the shore of the island, with Fishlegs utterly geeking out over finally being on Dragon Island. Hiccup was busy examining the crystal on the Dragon Blade. From what he had seen over the past few days, the crystal seemed to be what gave the sword its power. _'Just what is it about this sword that makes it so powerful,'_ he said in his mind. His thinking was cut short, when a loud, glass shattering roar came from out of nowhere.

He and the others turned in the direction of the roar, and saw a dragon flying towards them. It was covered in bones, so the (most of them) knew it was a Boneknapper. It had was mostly back, the edges of its wings an almost blood shade of red. The scales on its tail were an almost glowing orange, as were its eyes. It landed a few yards away from them, and shook itself, rattling the bones it wore like a coat, spread its wings out, and fired an ashy stream of fire towards them. They scattered in different directions, trying to avoid the flames. Hiccup ran behind a rock for cover, and looked over to see Hoookfang standing his ground against the large dragon, with Barf and Belch sneaking up behind it, while Stormfly and Meatlug were in the air, driving it back towards them. When it was close enough, the Zippleback pounced on the back of the dragon, roaring at the pain from colliding with the bones.

Hiccup had almost brushed his fingers against the grip of the Dragon Blade, when suddenly he heard a voice call for him. _"Hiccup,"_ it said, _"You really should see this."_ The voice was as alluring as a siren song, he couldn't resist. He turned around and saw an opening in the mountain right behind him. Ignoring the fight, Hiccup walked towards the cave.

* * *

The cave wasn't too big, really it was more the size of a room in one of the houses on Berk. On the walls were paintings, that seemed to tell a story; a meteor fell from the sky and landed inside the volcano on the island. The mountain exploded in a burst of fire, chunks of flaming rock coming down from the sky. Dragons flew off the island like birds migrating for winter, except they couldn't afford to stop. At the core of the volcano, a large green stone was floating above the lava, and pictured on the crystal was a Night Fury symbol. Lava started to circle the strange rock, and the stone began to go down, disappearing into the mountain.

Hiccup, after stubbing his toe, winced in pain, and realized he had went inside the cave. He was staring at what appeared to be a glass mirror at the end of the cave. It was worn down and cracked almost entirely, with the only good view of his reflection being a circular part at the center. He was about to turn around and head back outside when he heard, _"Leaving so soon, you just got here. Of course even if you left the cave it still wouldn't solve your problem,"_ in his own voice. He turned around his attention back to the mirror, and saw his reflection in the broken glass, only it wasn't. Its eyes were a glowing acidic green, and they looked like the mirror itself, cracked.

"What do you mean," Hiccup asked his mirror self. Smirking, the reflection said, _"I mean your problem about fitting in. You know you don't. It's as simple as that."_ Hiccup tried to ignore the harsh words, but he couldn't. _"You know that everyone in this world is everything you're not. Big, strong, powerful, you'll never be as good as any of them."_ He kept trying to move away, but he couldn't, it was if the reflection had gotten control of him. _"You really are disappointing you know. Everyone was expecting the Final Rider to be worthy of the title, or at least look it. But clearly you can't even do that right. If your mom could see you, ohhh, what would she say?"_ Hiccup was about to answer, he couldn't open his mouth, he was frozen in place. _"I'll tell you what she'd say, she'd be mad when she realizes you left her for dragons."_

When those words were spoken, Hiccup started to regain control of himself, and said in an act of self-defense, "What? No, I didn't…" " _Oh but you did. You left her alone, sick, and unable to care for herself, while you're here, trying to help people who deep down can't stand you. You know, maybe that's why you never met your dad, he couldn't stand the mere sight of you and left."_ When the doppelganger said that, Hiccup felt as if someone had ripped his heart out and stomped all over it. The Hiccup in the mirror knew him, and every one of his doubts, his insecurities, including his darkest one; the idea that his father had left him and his mother, and it was all because of him. Smugging triumphantly, the mirror Hiccup kept tormenting him with words that stung like a wasp, they just kept coming.

" _Oh, and let's not forget about everyone else now, shall we. You really think Gobber meant you could be his apprentice? Ha, the second you grab a hammer you'll probably drop it and break your foot. Stoick? He probably thinks that he could say Snotlout is the Final Rider, at least that would people believe. Your 'friends' outside are probably waiting for you to come back so they can pound you into next week."_ Hiccup could no longer talk back to defend himself, his mind was trapped in the idea that what the imposter was saying was true, that no one really even tolerated him, and that he was a disruption to life, an unwanted presence, a hiccup. Seeing that Hiccup was one insult away from defeat, the mirror Hiccup pulled the one it had been saving, one guaranteed to finish Hiccup. _"And Astrid, did you believe that even for a second that she'd like you? You, out of all people, when she could have had someone else, someone who really deserves her? HA, she's probably waiting for the right moment to chop of your head and take the spot as Final Rider herself. She'd never love you!"_

Suddenly, something bit Hiccup's hand, snapping out of his trance. He grabbed his hand in pain, and looked at the creature that bite him. It was a small green Terrible Terror, the common house cat of dragons, hovering next to him. It looked at Hiccup with curious eyes, and said "Are you okay, you seemed kinda possessed by something." Hiccup answered, "Well I was about to leave when my reflection," he gestured to the mirror, "started to…" he looked at the mirror, and saw that it was just a mirror, and his reflection was just that. "It started to what," the Terror said slowly, making it sound like Hiccup was crazy. Shaking his head, Hiccup said, "It was nothing. So what's your name little guy?" "Sharpshot," the Terror said. "Alright Sharpshot, what do you say we get out of this cave?" Sharpshot nodded, and perched himself on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup took one last look at the mirror, and left the cave, but not before hearing, _"You can pretend all you want, but you know I'm right."_

* * *

Hiccup and Sharpshot had left the cave, and Hiccup noticed that all the dragons were gone, and that the others were calling his name. "Hiccup, where are you?" "I'm right here," he said, getting the group's attention. Toothless started to run towards him, saying "Where were you, you disappeared just when…" but stopped when he noticed Sharpshot. He glared daggers at the small dragon, and said, "And who are you," in a bit of a jealous voice.

Hiccup, after realizing that he didn't introduce the dragon on his shoulder, told everyone his the Terror's name was Sharpshot, and said he had helped him in the cave. "Why did you need help," Fishlegs asked. Hiccup's eyes widened when he realize he left that part out. "Oh, well, I accidently dropped something that rolled into that cave, and Sharpshot here, helped me find it," he said, hoping they'd buy it. They all juts glared at him, clearly not following for it. Sighing, Hiccup admitted about his incident inside the cave, minus a few specific parts, earning surprised looks from the group. "Hmm, it must have been a Shattered Sight Mirror, a relic that uses people's doubts against them," Fishlegs summarized.

"Well, now that we've got that settled, how 'bout we go get that gem," Hiccup said, trying to get the group back on track. "No, there's something else," Toothless said. "What, no there's nothing else. Now come on," Hiccup tried to change the subject. "Hiccup, I've known you for years, and I know when you're lying. So cut the act and be honest." As Toothless spoke, Hiccup started to get annoyed at Toothless for asking too many questions. "What is it you're not telling us? You said you couldn't fit in, and when Gobber offered you to help you, you said no. And now you act all depressed about what happened in the cave because of it?" "It's nothing Toothless, now drop it." "No! I want to know why you don't think you can fit in. The mirror used your doubts about that against you, but when you had the chance to get rid of them, you said no. Why did you say no? Why didn't you take Gobber's offer? What are you so afraid off?!"

" **I'm afraid I'd fail if I tried!"**

The teens were shocked. They might not have known Hiccup as long as Toothless, but they did know he would never snap like that. "I'm afraid that if I try, I'll fail and end up disappointing everyone," Hiccup said, almost bursting into tears. "Hiccup, we understand that" "No you don't," Hiccup cut Fishlegs off, "You say you do, but you don't. I've got to stop the greatest evil ever known, and get back to my mom, or else this entire world will be destroyed, and I'll never see her again. Do you have any idea what she has gone through? She raised me alone, had to take care of dozens of animals, she had nothing before I was born, and now she's sick, and needs me. If I fail, then she'll pay the price because of it. It's not like she has anyone else, she said I'm the only family she's ever had."

Hiccup stopped after that, and started to catch his breath, the others just speechless. Calmer than before, he said, "I'm afraid that if I try to be something I'm not, be it the Final Rider, a Viking, or anything, I'd fail and disappoint people, and they'd leave, just like my father." After that last part, the dams broke, Hiccup fell to the ground, and began to cry. There he said it. He said the thing that was bothering him ever since he was summoned to this strange world, not that he'd ever leave and go home, nor that he couldn't stop Drago, but that he'd fail and disappoint the people he got to know.

Seeing his best friend hurt, Toothless slowly walked over to Hiccup, and began to nuzzle his check. Feeling his warm fur pressed against him, Hiccup stopped crying. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," he said in a low voice. "No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you. It's just, down since we got here, and I just couldn't understand why," Toothless said, voicing what had troubled him. Suddenly, Hiccup felt arms wrap around him. He looked up and saw Astrid was hugging him. He didn't say anything, I mean if the girl you had a crush on came to you when you're hurt would you object? "Hiccup, we know you're under a lot of pressure right now, but you don't have to feel this way," she said, trying to help him. "Yeah, you aren't in this alone," Fishlegs said. "You have us to help." "Besides, if anyone were to mess up, it'd be me," the twins added, with Ruff silently muttering 'yup, you'd definitely be the one to mess up,' but her brother didn't comment. "And together, we cans seal Drago away forever," Snotlout said, which was probably the nicest thing he'd said to him since they met. "And Hiccup," Toothless said, getting his attention, "Don't ever think that your father left you. I might not know much about parenting, but I do know he'd never leave you, or your mother."

Smiling, Hiccup picked himself up, and said, "Thanks guys." Astrid couldn't help but smile at seeing the Hiccup she'd gotten to know over the past few days return to normal. "Hey, why are you smiling like that?" Astrid then realized what she was doing, and tried to pass it off as nothing. "Now come on. Didn't you say we had to get that Dragon Gem?" The group nodded and started preparing to go to the heart of the mountain. "Thanks again for the help Sharpshot, you can go back to wherever you came from." "You can thank me when you get the gem."

Hiccup was confused by that, "What do you mean 'when [we] get the Gem.'" Amused, the green Terror said, "I mean I'll help you. I've lived here all my life and I can get you guys to the mouth of the volcano in a snap." Hiccup didn't know what to make of that, so instead he said, "Um okay then. Lead the way." Sharpshot flew onto Hiccup shoulder, earning him a death glare from Toothless that said, 'If you're lying, you'll regret it.' Ignoring the jealousy coming off of Toothless, the small guide started to lead the group, "Alright, you start by heading to the south tunnel entrance just a few hundred yards to the right, it connects to the cave system in the mountain. Now come on, we can't waste any more day light." With that, they group was back on track, and heading for the Dragon Gem, unaware of the dangers coming for them.

* * *

"Fortunately for Sharpshot, the entrance he spoke about did lead them to the cave system. They walked for what felt like decades, feet aching, backs breaking, blood coming out of their…" "Will you please **SHUT UP,"** Snotlout screamed about Tuffnut's narration. "What, just trying to pass the time." "Yeah, well could you please be more accurate, we've only been in here five minutes," Fishlegs said, trying to make Tuff's terrible narration a bit more accurate. "Really, huh, I thought it was longer." "Speaking of longer, how much longer until we get to the heart of this volcano?" "I told you, it'll take a little while longer 'till we reach the crossroads of the cave system, then we'll talk," Sharpshot answered aggressively at the female Thorston.

While the others were discussing where to go, Hiccup was thinking about somethings. One was about the crystal on the Dragon Blade. He could vaguely remember the inside of the cave from before, but he knew it was about the strange stone. He touched the hilt of the sword subconsciously, wondering about what it was that made the rock so special. The second was about what the duplicate of him had said. He knew he had his friends to help him, but in the end he was still the one who had to stop Drago. The final thought was about the clue from the Book of Dragons, it said confidence was the key to the Dragon Gem, but what did it mean by that? And what did it have to do with time travel? Was being confident the way to cast a time traveling spell, or was it a trick like the last clue? It was all very confusing.

"DUCK," was all he heard Astrid shout before tackling him to the ground, Sharpshot flying off his shoulder. He was going to question why she did that, but his question disappeared when he saw a stalactite **(IT'S THE ONE ON THE CEILING)** had fallen and almost crushed him. But what really got his attention was the traces of frost on where it broke. "Well, I've still got more where that came from." The group, including Toothless and Sharpshot, looked and saw a man a few years older than them standing next to an icy looking dragon. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Eret, son of Eret, finest Dragon Trapper alive," he introduced himself, earning an angry snarl from the dragon next to him, "and this is Skrill Chiller." While the others grabbed their Krystal Medians, Ruffnut was too busy drooling over Eret's, physique. Unimpressed by the group's attempt at ferocity, although he was slightly weirded out by Ruff's ogling, commanded, "Frost Barrage," Skrill Chiller fired bursts of ice blasts at the teens, missing them not by much.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from underground, and a dragon burst out from underneath. It was a Whispering Death, a serpent-like dragon that could tunnel underground, and had six rows of rotating teeth. Its scales were reddish brown, however its wings, mouth and eyes were turquoise. "Alright Death Ride, Rings of Flaming Death," Tuff commanded. Death Ride fired multiple rings of yellow fire, attempting to push Skrill Chiller back, but it moved out of the way and fired back, knocking Death Ride to the ground. "Are you okay, how many fingers am I holding," Tuffnut asked, who pulled out three figures to make sure his dragon was okay. "How many times have we been over this? I'm _**BLIND**_ you muttonhead!" "Oh, right," Tuff said sheepishly, reminded Whispering Deaths had bad eyesight. The moment was cut short because Skrill Chiller fired a blast at the Whispering Death, defeating him.

Hiccup grabbed the Dragon Blade and stepped in front of Eret, waiting for Toothless to transform into his Night Fury form, but he forgot magic doesn't work on the island. Breaking the awkward silence, Eret said "Hmm, you must be the Final Rider. I expected someone taller." "Yeah, I get that a lot," Hiccup fire back at him. "And 'Finest Dragon Trapper', that seems like a bit of a stretch, I'd say you're more of an above average at best." Insulted, Eret was about to say something when two dragons came out of one of the tunnels, and crashed into Eret and his dragon. One was a Snaptrapper, the other was a Timberjack. They were both the standard green and brown of their species', but more on the greyish side. The Timberjack went in between Hiccup and Eret, secreting a few drops of flammable oil in front of it, while the Snaptrapper started to breathe its methane gas, filling up a small portion of the tunnel, as well as stopping Eret from seeing the teens. "Now's our chance," Fishlegs shouted. The teens all ran through the mist, the two dragons that saved them distracting Eret and Skrill Chiller, who as a Snow Wraith had thermal vision and could spot the group if not for being distracted. On the way out, Sharpshot fired a small snipper shot-like flame at the mist, creating an explosion, which in turn caused the tunnel to collapse. Stalactites fell from the ceiling, trapping the three dragons and Trapper inside.

* * *

"Okay, just a few more feet, and we're here," Sharpshot said as they reached the heart of the cave system. It was very tall, and very wide, with multiple tunnel entrances were carved into the walls. On the ceiling of the cave was a small skylight, the sun's light illuminating what would normally be a dark cave. From the position of the sun, it appeared to be around mid-day. "Alright, how do we get to the Dragon Gem," Snotlout asked.

Sharpshot grinned sheepishly, and said, "Yeah, I don't know how to get to the heart of the mountain from here." "WHAT," Astrid shouted furiously. "You mean this whole time you were leading us with no idea where to go? Huh, and I thought we were clueless," Tuff said about him and his sister. "In my defense, no one except the Brutes have ever gotten through the tunnels to where you're heading," Sharpshot said. "What do you mean 'Brutes'?" "Don't you know anything," Snotlout remarked about Hiccup's question. "Well do you know what they are Snotlout," Astrid said. Snotlout was about to say something, but he realized he didn't know what Brutes were, simply muttered, "Shut up Astrid." "Brutes are servants of the Green Death," said Fishlegs, "and before you ask, the Green Death is an Alpha Dragon, which are among the largest species ever discovered, and are often considered the royalty of the dragons. While most are peaceful, the Green Death is more aggressive, just as the dragons that obey it, hence the name 'Brutes'," Fishlegs explained proudly.

"Yeah, we get it Fishlegs, you know about dragons, but how is that going to help us," Snotlout impatiently said. Looking around, Hiccup noticed that Toothless had drawn a clock around the group, with directions like a compass inside the circle. "Hey bud, you up to something?" "Trying to figure out the riddle," he answered. "The clue said that north was the beginning and nearly the end, and that we had to follow the hour almost completely back, so I set up a compass and a clock to help." "How did you know where to put everything," Tuffnut asked. "Because we just came from the southern side of the island, so that kinda helps out." "I thought south was that way." "No, that's actually west," Hiccup said about Tuff's sense of direction.

"If the clue wants us to go back in time, then maybe we have to walk backwards until we go back to where we were," Snotlout joking said. Hiccup's face contorted into a smile, and said, "Snotlout, you're a genius." "I knew that. What'd I do," Snotlout said confused by Hiccup's eureka moment. "We don't actually have to go back in time, we have to go counter clockwise." Hiccup walked over to the 12 o'clock and North position on the circle, and started to walk around the circle. "If we go backwards until we've almost reached where we started," he explained, the others extremely confused, "then we should hit around here," he said as he stopped at the 1 o'clock mark, which was facing a tunnel entrance close to the northern tunnel. "So you're saying that tunnel will take us to the Gem, just because of that crazy logic," a confused Fishlegs said. "It's a long shot, but what do we have to lose," Hiccup said, guessing that he was right.

A roar was heard from the tunnel they had come from, implying that Eret had gotten free of his situation. "Either way, I say that's a pretty good place to hide," Fishlegs said, fear largely showing. They didn't object, and entered the tunnel.

* * *

They walked through the tunnel, which took an unexpected trip uphill. "Remind me why Fishlegs isn't at the back, if he falls we're all going with him," Snotlout snarked, earning him a death glare from Astrid. When they reached the exit of the tunnel, they were at inside the volcano's heart. A thick fog was below, covering the lava, giving off a deep red glow. Many perch like rock formations lined the walls of the mountain, different layers giving the illusion of stairs. And a few feet away from them was a small cluster of floating rock platforms, the Dragon Gem near the end, hovering over the center of the pit. It was a small diamond in the shape of an octagon that glowed a silver glow, though from the light in the room it had a hint of red.

The teens stared at the gem in awe, except Snotlout, "Big deal, he got lucky." "Sharpshot, care to do the honors," Hiccup said to their guide. The Terror flew towards the gem, when suddenly he stopped and fell to the floor, he looked like he ran into a wall. "What the," a confused Hiccup said. Toothless walked over to where Sharpshot had fallen, placed his paw out only for it stop against something. "Hey, I think there's some kind of force field." Astrid walked next to Toothless, but when she placed her hand out it didn't stop. "Maybe it only stops dragons," Fishlegs quickly summarized.

Hiccup, looking down, saw that the fog below started to clear up, and he could see lava bubbling at the bottom. "Well go on already," Snotlout rudely said. Hiccup gulped, and jumped on to the first platform. It shook a little, but managed to stay in the air. "Would be a shame if you fell, looks like a big fall," came a voice from behind. Everyone turned around to see Eret and Skrill Chiller at the tunnel entrance. "You know, if someone gets trapped under rubble, it's polite to help them out, even if they tried to crush you." "No it's not," Snotlout remarked. "I don't know, I mean it does seem right," Ruff said, a little drool on her face. Eret shuddered a little bit, before ordering, "Skrill Chiller, Frost Barrage." The dragon fired a blast in Hiccup's direction, only for it to be stopped when it hit the force field.

Astrid grabbed her axe while Snotlout grabbed his hammer, and they summoned Stormfly and Hookfang. "Go, we'll hold him off," Astrid said to Hiccup, looking over her shoulder. Hiccup glanced down over to platform, the lava more visible than before, took a deep breath, and started to jump from platform to platform. While he was doing that, Snotlout charged at Eret, his hammer raised in the air, but the attack failed to make contact, and got hit on the head with end of Eret's axe, knocking him out. Tuffnut grabbed his dagger, and tried to rush at Eret, but he simply stepped out of the way, and Tuff ran right the wall. Eret smiled smugly, saying "This is too easy." He turned to Fishlegs, who yelped and hid behind a bunch of rocks when the Trapper looked his way. Eret, a little amused, grabbed a bolas, and threw it at the rock, ensnaring the scared Fishlegs.

As for the dragons, Skrill Chiller fired a burst of rapid fire ice attacks, Hookfang keeping a constant stream of fire to stop the blast from hitting. Stormfly tried firing her tail spikes at the Snow Wraith, but it flew up and dodged each one. Hookfang, doing his signature 'flame-up' trick, tackled the Skrill Chiller out of the air and slammed into the rocks below. It tried to get up, but Hookfang was too heavy. When he managed to turn himself around enough, it attempted to fire at his Hookfang, but was stopped when Sharpshot and Toothless jumped on his face, blocking his view. Hookfang covered himself in fire, and as an artic dragon, being a few inches away from a large flame was a major weakness. It started to squirm around, trying to free itself, Stormfly stepping on his tail to make sure he didn't break free. "This is why, uh, I don't, live in, the artic," Sharpshot said, trying to hold on.

Astrid's axe clashed with Eret's, the sound of the metal banging resonating all around. If she could only keep it up for a few more seconds, then Hiccup could get the Gem. It would have been easier if Ruffnut wasn't staring at Eret's arms and did something, but she was used to being the only sane one. While the others were buying time, Hiccup was almost to the Dragon Gem. _"'K, only a few more jumps,"_ he said to himself. As he made his next jump, he heard something drop. He turned and saw that smaller rocks, roughly the size of a marble, starting to fall into the lava below. He started to move quicker, but had to keep his balance, for the platforms started to wobble. Meanwhile, Eret was starting to push Astrid back, each swing driving her to an edge. With the dragons busy, three of them out of it, and one completely crazy(ier), she was starting to run out of options.

Eventually, she was pushed back to the cliff, but she charged back at Eret, his axe blocking hers. "Well, if I didn't know any better, you fight almost as well as a man," Eret said, impressed by Astrid's skills with her weapon. "Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you," she remarked back, although inside, she took what he said as a compliment. It wasn't everyday she had someone mentioned her warrior skills from a skilled fighter, excluding Gobber, even if it was from her enemy. "Don't you think that's hitting a little below the belt," Eret quipped back. "No, _**this**_ is," Astrid said, aiming the butt of her axe between Eret's legs. He dropped his axe and grabbed hers, a few centimeters to close, only for her to punch him right in the jaw, knocking him on his rear end. "Not the face," Ruffnut screamed. "Touché," he said, grabbing his axe.

Astrid was about to summon another dragon to finish Eret, but Ruff pushed her out of the way, making sure Eret was okay. "Are you alright, she didn't hurt you did she, and wow you're even better looking up close." He tried to get her off of him, but her grip was too strong. Neither one of them cared to notice that Astrid was on the edge of the cliff, holding on for dear life. "Little help here," she cried out, but she only got, "I'm a bit busy right now," from Hookfang. She tried pulling herself up, but she felt herself slip a little.

Hiccup was almost to the gem, gathering one last breath, jumped to the final platform, and landed without a hitch. He looked at the beautiful stone, an arm's distance away, and said to himself, " _This is it, the first step to getting home."_ He reached out to grab the gem, and just as his fingers brushed against it, heard Astrid call out. He turned around and saw Astrid hanging of the edge, and that a majority of the platforms had disappeared, leaving only a straight path between him and solid ground, the last few small ones falling. He realized he had a choice, save Astrid and fail to get the diamond, or grab it and let Astrid fall. _"This is what I meant,"_ the voice of his reflection said, slithering back into his mind, _"Either way you let someone down, and literally at that,"_ it taunted. Hiccup began to wonder which one to go for, Astrid or the diamond, he asked himself.

Astrid felt her grip start to weaken, and screamed, "HELP!" Suddenly, she let go, and started to fall when she felt someone grab her arm. She looked at the person who did it, and saw Hiccup, who in a spur on the minute decision, choose to save her. "Don't let go." "Ha Ha, very funny." He pulled her up, well as best as he could. They both took deep breathes, Astrid saying, "Thanks." "Your welcome." They looked in the direction of the Dragon Gem, only to see it fall into the lava below.

Hiccup frowned in disappointment, worried about what Astrid would say. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get to say anything. "What did you do? Do you know what you just lost," Eret said, agitated by A) the Dragon Gem disappeared, and B) Ruffnut was still holding him like a creepy stalker. "Yes, I saved my friend," Hiccup defended. "But you lost the diamond!" Hiccup glared at Eret, and said, "Tell you what, how about me make a deal," in a serious tone. Eret scoffed and said, "What makes you think I'd want to make a deal?"

Hiccup gestured to his left, indicating to look over. Eret turned and saw the fight between the dragons finish with Skrill Chiller's defeat. He then looked in the opposite direction to see Snotlout and Tuffnut awake, holding their weapons with and untied Fishlegs behind them, and Ruff _STILL_ staring at him. "Alright, what do you want," he said, the realization he was between a rock and a hard place coming to him. "We pretend this never happened. The clue from the Book of Dragon was wrong, and there was no gem here," Hiccup said in a stern voice. "And what if I decide to tell people about this?" "Then you can explain to Drago how you failed and lost the diamond to a bunch of kids," Hiccup countered. Eret glared daggers at Hiccup, and only said one word; "Deal." He grabbed his axe, and summoned another dragon, a long blue snake, alligator-ish Shivertooth. He mounted it, and the dragon flew through the throat of the volcano, and when it was out of sight, Fishlegs said, "So what do we tell Stoick?"

"You tell him you got what you came for," a deep voice echoed. Suddenly, a gigantic dragon burst out of the lava below, its head facing the group. Its scales a dullish green, a broken horn, a small frill on the back of, and six eyes surrounded by red scales. It was the Green Death, the Alpha they had talked about a while back. Fishlegs looked at the dragon in awe, Snotlout and the twins looked terrified, the dragons bowed in the presence of the Alpha, while Toothless remarked that, "It looks like Tyrannosaurus and Godzilla had a baby." The Green Death said, "You came here in search of a Dragon Gem, and I deem you worthy of possessing it," to Hiccup in a bellowing voice.

Hiccup didn't understand, and asked the Green Death, "What did I do?" "You passed the test," the Alpha answered, "You earned it because you proved your confidence. Everything that happened to you today, from my Brutes attacking to the cave, was part of it" Hiccup still didn't understand what that meant, so the Green Death continued, "When you choose to save Astrid, you put your doubts aside to save her, you weren't afraid you'd let her go." As the Alpha spoke, the fallen diamond retrieved itself from the depths, and floated near the dragon's snout. "Everyone had doubts, but only those with true confidence can put them aside, and go on despite doubts existing, and you have proven that you can do so."

The diamond floated towards Hiccup, and landed in his palm. He smiled a bit, he had proven himself today. "It's kinda heavy," he remarked about the weight of the gem. "I hope so, it weighs 75 carats." "Seriously," Toothless exclaimed, "This makes the Hope diamond look like costume jewelry." Hiccup's smile faltered a bit, and asked the Green Death, "When I was in that cave, a saw something about the crystal, on the Dragon Blade. What is it about that stone that makes the sword so special?" The Green Death paused, and said, "I am afraid I cannot answer that, but you will learn why soon." It didn't say anything else, and vanished back into the depths.

Silence lasted, until Snotlout said, "Are we going or not?" The group, Sharpshot and Toothless included, began to leave, when Astrid stopped and said, "Hey Hiccup." He stopped at her mentioning at his name, only to get punched in the arm. "That's for doubting yourself." He rubbed where she hit him, only to be hugged by her again. "And that's for saving me," she said once she let go, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, and left the cave. Hiccup smiled, maybe there was hope for the two of them, but then realized Toothless and Sharpshot were behind him giving him a 'oohh' look, before saying, "Wha-what are you looking at?"

* * *

 _Berk_

"….When we go off the island, I gave it to Fishlegs for safe keeping," Hiccup said, finishing telling his tale to Gobber while Toothless and Sharpshot were playfully chasing a mouse throughout the forge. "Well lad, I'd say today was an interestin' experience for ya'," Gobber said with a bit of pride. "Thanks. You know, today got me thinking, if I'm going to be here for a while, I might as well make the most of it," Hiccup said with a bit of a nervous tone.

"Lad, if you're saying you want to be ma' apprentice after all, the answer is yes." Hiccup lost his nervousness, and said, "Thank you," before looking over at Sharpshot and saying, "You know Sharp, you don't need to stay here if you don't want to." The Terror laughed a little, before saying, "I'm not here because I have to, I'm staying here because I _**want**_ to be here. Besides, I heard Fish say you wanted another dragon." Hiccup smiled at the small dragons loyalty, and leaned down to him to say, "Well, I guess that means I'm stuck with you little guy," Hiccup said before looking at a jealous Toothless, "Of course you'll always be my number one bud." Toothless grinned with pride at that last part

"Well, in celebration of your first dragon, may I present you with this," Gobber said, holding a gift he had been working on for Hiccup. It was a simple shield, with the symbol of a Night Fury around the center. Hiccup took the gift from him, and knew what he was going to use it for. "Alright, I hope I get this right. Sharpshot, to the stables." The Terror then turn green completely, before glowing faintly and turned into a small green flame krystal. Hiccup took the krystal, and placed it on the metal part in the center of the shield. "What do ya' think lad," Gobber asked. "Hmm, I might make a few tweaks," he said humorously, the two laughed at the remark.

"Oh, and one more thing," Gobber said, getting out of his chair, and walked over to a small corner of the forge. He moved a piece of cloth, and revealed a hidden room. It was small, with a work station against one wall, and notebooks filled with blank pages on the desk. Hiccup walked into the room and admired its simplicity, he turned to Gobber to speak, but he said, "You don't have ta say anything lad, your face says it'all. Now, we'll start your first lesson in the mornin', but until then, get a good rest, you've earned it," before leaving Hiccup to simply take in the workshop. Hiccup sat in the chair at the workbench, looking out a window, smiling at the full moon. Toothless jumped onto his lap, he began stroking his fur, and said, "Thanks bud, for helping me out with everything." Toothless looked at him and said, "Yeah, you'd be lost without me," making to two laugh.

Hiccup's eyes started to droop, and eventually fell asleep. Toothless jumped of his lap, and climbed onto the windowsill. He looked out into the distance, and said, "Val if you could see your son now, you'd be proud."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Fin! Well what did you think, I know it was long, but I'd say best chapter yet. Now, just in case you're one of those die hard 'Hiccstrid' shippers who took that seen between Astrid and Eret the wrong way, it was just for humor, nothing more. Also, I decided to give Eret this sort of 'ice dragon' theme, since Skullcrusher is with Stoick, and ice powers are very popular. My favorite part was the interactions between Hiccup and Gobber, what was yours? If you thought that some of the characters were out of focus, in my defense, I've got a big main cast, and splitting things between them is hard.**

 **So, if you were thinking that those voices Toothless heard were some fairies, you were right. I forgot to put this in the last chapter. What I meant about the hint at the end of chapter 1 ½ was that even though the fairies are, well, fairies, they have traits of other mythical creatures. Today's hint applies to the three from this chapter: Their personalities are based off of a recent animated film that came out this year.**

 **Now for the announcement I wanted to give, I'm going away for Christmas, so I won't update again this month, (The audience starts to whine). BUT (They stop) I have decided that in addition to this, I'll do a one-shot series. (The audience begins to cheer). Now don't worry, this is still my main focus, that'll just be a side project. The content will basically be character interaction and backstory, musical moments, just for fun and to help them develop. It'll come out a little while after my update next month, well year I should say. And because I'm like every other author, I'll let you guys suggest one-shots in the reviews.**

 **See you next year, merry Christmas, happy Snoggletogg, have a great New Year, and any other holiday I'm forgetting.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was posted December 10, 2015.**


	6. Chapter 4 (Fire and Ice)

**Author's Note: Hello people, didn't expect to see me earlier than I promised, I took all my free time to finish this early. I'm going to keep this short, because the note at the end is going to be pretty long. First, I saw the next episodes of Race to the Edge, I'm not sure why people are calling it season 2, really it's more like season 1B. Apart from that, I liked the new batch. I won't spoil anything in this chapter, except maybe para-phrasing a quote, but anything else that may spoil it will come at a later chapter, after enough people have seen the episodes. Second, I'm going to do something different this time around and try to give some attention to Astrid this chapter. Last, well, I'll tell you later.**

 **I only own O/C's, the idea to write this, any dragons I make up that weren't in the books or franchise, yada yada yada.**

* * *

 _Chapter 4: Fire & Ice (and a Speed Stinger or two dozen)_

It was a rough day to be out at sea, for a bad storm had come to the northern most part of the Archipelago. The waves shook with the might to capsize even the sturdiest of ships, and the winds blew with the strength of half a dozen angry dragons. It was a storm that was as threatening as it was powerful.

Unfortunately, the Riders got caught up in said storm's rage as the waves tossed their small boat around like a rag doll.

"Keep the wind at our back, how hard is that," Snotlout shouted over the sound of the blustering winds as he tried to row the fishing ship. Hiccup was trying to keep control of the ship, but nature's power, combined with the fact it was his first time steering a ship, made it difficult. "Could be worse, I mean something could always happen," Hiccup replied, trying to be heard over the storm. "He's right," Fishlegs said, "We could always be attacked by mermaids, and that's worse than a storm." "Oh no, if we see a mermaid, we won't let it sink us." "Why not bud," Hiccup said to Toothless, who was holding onto the mast for dear life. "Because I refused to be capsized by fish!"

Astrid, the twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout kept were holding onto the rail of the ship, hoping it would last long enough. However, the main sail had a rip, and the storm started to get rougher. "I think it's starting to catch too much wind," Fishlegs shouted, concerned for how much more the ship could take. Suddenly, the waves started to get bigger, one of them almost turning the ship upside down. "I say we turn back, even the boat doesn't want to be out here." "What about Stoick, he could be in danger," Astrid said over the storm. "I say we make Gobber chief instead." "Yeah, what's wrong with that, I mean he is a nice guy," said the twins, trying to stay on board.

"She's right," Toothless said from above, "We need to keep heading into the waves." "Are you crazy, why would we do that," Snotlout exclaimed. "Because it'll stop us from taking them from the side," Fishlegs explained. "Oh, the cat is so smart, you always have a plan to kill us don't you," Snotlout screamed to Toothless. "Considering that you never have a plan, at least we could try," Toothless yelled from above. Astrid saw a loose rope connected to the second sail flying around, so she let go of the rail to try and grab it.

Just then, a large wave hit them, flooding the deck with water. Fortunately no one got swept overboard. "Everyone alright," Hiccup said after most of the water had retreated. "If by 'alright' you mean caught up in an awesomely life threatening storm, then yes," Tuff said before hitting his sister's helmet with his own. "I have an idea, but it's gonna take some magic, Ruff," Astrid said. Ruff was about to say 'no', but another wave hit them, "I know where you're going, and I whole heartedly agree." Ruff let go of the rail she was holding, only for another massive wave to sweep over them.

At that last second, Ruff cast a tethering spell, tying a rope around her waist and the mast. She coughed out sea water, and remarked that, "Too salty for my taste," before coughing up more water. "I'll unfurl the second sail, and I need you to make sure I don't go overboard," Astrid explained about her plan. Ruff nodded before whispering, " _Energy bind det jeg ser,"_ and a rope of light tied around Astrid's waist. She pulled the loose rope, and another sail unfurled behind the main one. The ship started to regain balance, allowing the teens to let go of the rail.

"It worked, the steering's back," Hiccup said with joy, "Now let's head clear of the storm." He started to turn the ship towards the storm's end, when a strange roar came out. "That didn't sound good," Fishlegs said with panic. "Yeah, and that looks worse," Tuff said, pointing in the direction of a vague shape in the water, heading right in their direction. When it got close enough to the ship, the shape was revealed to be an armored dragon with small flukes and a large neck fin, along with jaw tendril. Its scales were a green color, with pale blue and purple highlights.

They didn't have time to worry about the dragon though, because another wave came towards them. "Sis, you might want to use that spell again," Tuff said, not wanting to be dragged out to sea. As quick as she could, Ruff whispered the tethering spell again, grabbing a hold of everyone on board and tying them to the mast. When the wave struck, the water had almost sunk the ship, and the group coughed out the salty water. "Nice one Ruff," Hiccup complemented. "I know." "So, how are you going to untie us when the storm's over?" Ruff's face contorted in realization that she didn't know how to undo the spell, and said, "Uh, how about we focus on the dragon instead."

The dragon fired a jolt of electricity at them, leaving a scorch mark on the deck. "What kind of dragon is that Fishlegs," Hiccup asked. "It's a Shockjaw, they're known for being able to unleash jolts of bio-electricity, with power ranging from a 'small jolt' to 'ship destroying lightning'." "Can't you tell that thing to leave us alone?" Astrid rolled her eyes at Snotlout's arrogance. "You are aware I can here you," the Shockjaw said in what sounded like a bad Yoda impression. "Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to have to sink you," it said in a happy sounding voice.

"Not gonna happen," Toothless said right before he jumped from the mast and turned into a Night Fury. "Yes, I knew it would work," Hiccup said with glee and his hand at the end of the Dragon Blade. Toothless fired a 'Plasma Blast' at the electric dragon, but it was able to dodge and fire back. The blast didn't hit Toothless, but it did take a chunk out of the rail. Another wave came crashing down on the boat, this time with water reaching over the teens' heads. The force of the wave was strong enough to break the mast in half, carrying the sails out to sea. "One more hit and we'll capsize," Astrid said while coughing out more water. "We can't just sit back and do nothing," Snotlout rudely remarked.

Meanwhile, in the air, the two dragons circled each other, both dodging the blasts from each other. Toothless then tried flying straight at the Shockjaw, but was tackled out of the way by another dragon. This one was half his size, and mostly sea green with a bright purple tail fin and wings. This dragon, known as a Sliquifier, fought Toothless claw-to-claw in the air while the Shockjaw went to the teens. "You won't interfere with our plans Night Fury, HAHAHAHAHA," the Sliquifier said in a high pitched voice. "Okay, I can deal with Yoda, but not SpongeBob," Toothless snarled before tossing the Sliquifier off him. The Shockjaw was in the water, circling the boat and firing amplified bolts of electricity.

"If he hits us from the side we'll sink for sure," Hiccup said. "Yeah, sinking ships," and enthusiastic Tuffnut said, earning him an angry glare from Snotlout. "Not yeah?" "I've got any idea," Fishlegs said, "Astrid, summon your dragons to help steer the ship." Astrid nodded in understanding, grabbed her axe, and called out Axewing and a light blue Terrible Terror named Sneaky, three guesses as to why that's his name. "Okay, Sneaky you take the wheel, Axewing, you'll act as a sail." The two dragons flew to their respective assignments, and began to turn the ship around while the Sliquifier accidently bumped into the Shockjaw while trying to avoid Toothless' attacks.

"Get off of me you annoying little pest." "Annoying, me? Oh, you really know how to-" the Sliquifier didn't get to finish that sentence, for Toothless had blasted and beaten him, and the Shockjaw was rammed by the rider's boat. The force of the collision was so strong that the mast broke once again, along with the tethering spell, knocking the riders against the deck. A wave swept out from under the ship, trying to throw the teens into the sea, but they held on tight, and the sea began to calm as the storm started to clear.

Toothless landed on the ship, and turned back into his feline form. "If I ever see that Sliquifier again, it'll be too soon." However, the group's celebrating was cut short because the boat had taken to many hits. "Are we sinking, b, because I'm not as buoyant as I look," Fishlegs stuttered. Astrid saw that her dragons were exhausted, and called them back and complained, "Why did we get on this stupid boat again?" "Because _**someone**_ said that we were using our dragons too much," Snotlout said pointing to Hiccup with a scowl. "So it's my fault for thinking you guys could go five minutes without using dragons," Hiccup said with a 'you're-blaming-me' voice. By then, water had filled the cabin underneath, and was starting to rise above the deck. "You look like you could use a hand," a voice came out.

The group looked over and saw Trader Johann and his ship a mere few feet away. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're a long way from Berk," he said with a friendly tone. "If you want I'd be glad to give you a lift," he offered. "Johann, the last time we spent five minutes alone with you, we ended up on Breakneck Bog," Snotlout rudely said, remembering the last time they had helped Johann. "Yes, and if I remember correctly it was also the time you left me stranded on a rock in the middle of the ocean. Trust me though when I say you're ill-suited for climate. Plus it's either me and my incredibly wondrous stories or a sunken ship and freezing water," Johann said, gesturing to the ship, which was almost completely sunk. The group exchanged glances before Hiccup turned to Johann and said, "Is there enough room?"

* * *

The group crossed over to Johann's ship, and theirs sunk down into the depths of the sea. "You think Bucket and Mulch'll be mad when we get back without that," Hiccup said with a hint of embarrassment. "Mulch maybe, Bucket, eh, he might not remember even giving it to us," Fishlegs said, hoping to be right. "And even if he does, it's Bucket, the only time I've ever seen him angry was the time that Berserker whacked him in the head," Tuffnut said with a hint of jealousy, to the Berserker, not Bucket.

Johann walked up from below deck, carrying a few fur coats, "Here, these are made from the finest wolf fur in the northern archipelago," he said as the teens each took one. "Interesting story, I got these from a woman who claimed to be a snow queen when she-""Johann, you're doing it again," Astrid said, cutting him off. "Actually I kinda want to hear it," Hiccup said, earning irritated groans from the others. "Well-," "Short version please." "She threatened to curse an entire island with an eternal winter unless I bought something from her shop," Johann said, surprisingly being brief. "Woah, concise and to the point, who knew he had it in 'im," Tuff said with a surprised look.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing in this part of the world?" "Berk is having some, minor climate issues-""Minor? There're icebergs floating in our harbor," said Snotlout, cutting of Hiccup. Johann stood with an intrigued look, before saying, "Would you please explain at the beginning what that has to do with why you're here?" "Well it started three days ago," Fishlegs began.

* * *

 _Berk Harbor, Three Days Ago_

 _The teens and most of the Berk council were standing at the harbor, with Fishlegs shivering. Large icebergs were floating a couple yards away, making the air and water around them cold. "Well, I've heard the only seasons this place has is winter and 'devastating winter', and the only weather is snow and hail, but I didn't expect it to get_ _ **this**_ _cold," Hiccup said, jokingly. "That's because it doesn't, especially not this time of year," Old Wrinkly said, his tone indicating something was wrong. "And icebergs, they never show up here." "What could have caused them to show up," Astrid asked._

 _Gothi bent down and cupped some water in her hand, taking notice of its properties. She scribbled down, which Gobber translated as, "She says tha' if we don't get the icebergs out of here soon, then it'll be very bad, it's bad for our temperate ecosystem." "'Temperate,' what does that mean," Tuff said with his usual ignorance. "It means the plant and wildlife is very delicately balanced. Everything here is used to the chilly climate, and the icebergs will dangerously affect it," Wrinkly explained. "What do you mean," Stoick asked. "I mean that if something changes, it won't be good. These icebergs would create a deep freeze, lowering temperatures all around. The frigid climate will devastate plant life, affecting our crops, and all the boars and stags in the forest would eventually run out of food. Not to mention the cold water will also affect underwater plants, eventually driving away all the nearby fish."_

" _So basically we freeze to death or starve if they stay," Astrid summarized, the twins 'oh'd in acknowledgement. "Not just that, the colder water means cold air, and that air could carry frigid rain to any nearby island, affecting them as well," Fishlegs brought up. "I say we blow 'em up." "I say that's the best idea I've heard all week," the twins suggested. "No, the intense heat we need to melt them would boil the water, and warmer water would be just as devastating," Wrinkly said, turning down the idea._

" _This situation is turning out to be much worse than expected," Stoick said. "I'll go to every tribe located within the northern region of the archipelago and see if they know anything." "I'll go with you," Astrid said without hesitation. "No, this could all just be a misunderstanding and I don't know what might happen. Gobber," he perked up the mention of his name, "Make sure the village doesn't freeze while I'm gone, and as for you, I need you to say here." "But what if Drago is behind this, and this could all just be a diversion-""Exactly, he could be trying to get you all away from Berk. You're staying and that's final," Stoick said with his 'discussion over' voice._

 _Later, he got on his dragon Skullcrusher, and flew north in the direction the icebergs came from, with Astrid saying to herself, "_ _ **Someone should have gone with him.**_ _"_

* * *

"When he didn't return, we got worried and followed him, and we were doing pretty well, until the storm," Fishlegs said, concluding the tale. "Where did he say he was going first," Johann asked with curiosity. "He said he was going to the Shivering Shores, and after that was Glacier Island," Fishlegs answered. "Oh, I might be able to help with that," Johann said, earning him a "Don't hold out on us, talk" from Snotlout. "Well you see, I had just finished a deal with a man on Glacier Island, and just as I was getting ready to leave, I saw a small flock of armored dragons arrive on the opposite side of the island."

"Dragon Trappers," Hiccup said with concern, "They must be behind this." 'Oh, I had a completely different idea that involved oily fish and, uh, bad mutton." Ruff groaned and pushed her brother onto the deck, "I'm okay." "I can take you to Glacier Island in no time flat. However," Johann began, "In exchange I get five minutes alone with the people who left me in the middle of the ocean," he said, aggressively directed to Snotlout and the twins, with Tuff laughing nervously. "Deal," Astrid accepted, concerned about her chief and her village. "Alright, we should reach the island in about ten minutes. And don't worry about any wild dragons, its mating season up there. I hope."

Astrid sat on a bench, staring out at sea with deep concern. "Hey, what's the matter," Hiccup asked, sitting down on the same bench. "I'm worried about Stoick, who knows what could happen if he doesn't get back," she answered. "And? Come on Astrid, I know there's something else." Sighing in defeat Astrid said, "All my life I've been trying to prove myself, to my parents, to the village, to Stoick, I just feel like I can never get the chance." "Astrid, everyone knows you're the best fighter out of all of us, you're smart, you're pretty…..good at training dragons," Hiccup told her, panicking a little when he said 'pretty', "You don't have to prove yourself to anyone." "Maybe, but I need to do this, to prove it to myself." "Astrid-" "Hiccup, I've made up my mind, and you can't change it." The two didn't say anything to each other for the rest of the trip.

* * *

 _Glacier Island_

The group arrived at Glacier Island, and it was freezing! It was so cold, you'd have to wear ten layers of clothes to be remotely warm, okay maybe not that cold, but still. As they stepped of the ship, Johan pulled Astrid aside, and handed her a pair of gloves. They were a faded brown leather, with small red crystals protruding from the wrists. On the palms were blue patterns that resembled a Nadder shooting fire. "These are Dragon Fire Gloves, acquired from a Lava-Lout blacksmith," he told her. She looked at the gloves, but turned them down. "Thank you, Johann, but I think I'm going to stick with my axe." "Alright, but take them just in case, you never know what might happen." Not wanting to waste any more time, she thanked him for the gloves and stepped off the trader's boat. With his work done, Johann took off, leaving the teens on the hunk of ice that was Glacier Island.

"So, where do we start?" Before anyone could say something, a loud BOOM could be heard. They turned around and saw a large cloud of black smoke coming from a glacier on the eastern side, and large chunks of ice dropped like flies. "Ask and you shall receive," Fishlegs remarked. Silently agreeing, the group trekked in the direction of the explosion. They traveled over fields of ice and snow, silence hanging in the air, until they walked across a ridge, when Toothless decided to ask,

"So, what do you think the Trappers are up to?" "Maybe another Gem," Hiccup suggested. "Maybe, but how did they know where to find one without the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs wondered. "Maybe they knew a spell that would let them get the clue from the book without the book itself," Astrid proposed. "But if that's true, then why didn't the book tell us-" Fishlegs stopped when the sound of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the ridge. The group stopped, and prepared to fight off what came, but when they saw the thing making the noise, they were quite surprised.

The creature that came towards them, was a young Speed Stinger.

"Thank goodness," it said in relived voice. Before he could say another word, Snotlout rushed at the stinger and attacked him with his hammer. The dragon dodged the attack, and his tail nicked Snotlout's leg. "Oh no," Snotlout said as his skink turned a pale complexion and froze. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sting you, I was just trying to-" "Yeah, save it." "Snotlout what was that about," Astrid said with anger. "He's a Speed Stinger Astrid, you know what they do. Now can someone help, I can't move my legs." Hiccup approached the stinger with caution, he held out his and asked, "It's okay little guy, we're friends. My name's Hiccup, what's yours?" "Speedy, **(yes, it's that Speedy from the first half of Race to the Edge)** and I need your help. Come with me to my cave and I'll explain everything." "It's a trap, he's going to sting us into oblivion!"

"Alright enough, Snotlout. Lead the way." Without hesitation, Speedy took off, the others trying to keep up, especially Fishlegs, who got stuck on Snotlout carrying duty. Eventually they arrived at Speedy's cave. It was large, about the size of the Great Hall back on Berk, pillars of ice supported the ceiling above, and a second tunnel entrance was on the other side of the cave. But really what was the most surprising thing was a pale, unconscious Stoick lying in the middle of the cave.

"Chief," Astrid said as she ran to the chief's side, her voice filled with concern. "What happened," Snotlout asked, his voice resonating with rage. "Well, it began a couple hours ago,"

* * *

 _Another Flashback, Speedy telling from his point of view_

 _I was outside, trying to work on my running skills, I'm the slowest of the pack. I was about to see if I could jump a gorge, when I saw a Rumblehorn arrive, with a large red haired human riding its back. They flew in the direction of the other entrance to the cave, so I followed them. Of course I forgot that I was faster, so I arrived there before he did. That's when I wish I hadn't._

 _Down below, a group of humans with an armored Shivertooth were setting up what looked like a large, Thunderdrum-styled horn in the direction of the glacier. One was a grown man, with a double-bladed axe, polishing the horn. The other was a teen with a helmet that would make Loki himself envious. The last was tall, with a powerful build, and even though he wore fur, it didn't look built for the weather up here._

* * *

"Dagur and Norbert again," Hiccup said, knowing instantly who it was. "And Eret, son of Eret's here too. I wonder if he remembers our time together," Ruff said, sounding like a girl obsessed over a boy band, which thoroughly disgusted everyone present. "Yeah, I don't want to know," Speedy said, "Anyway, I decided to get a closer look…"

* * *

" _You sure this is going to work, remember what happened with the practice icebergs," the teen_ "Dagur." "Right, thanks." _said. "It'll work, this time I've fully calibrated it and checked for any and all possible malfunctions," the one with the axe_ "Norbert." _Said. While they kept talking, I saw your chief land on a ridge above them, and watch them. "Alright, now, let's get this underway," Eret, son of Eret said. Norbert then started to move a crank which was attached to a chain that was attached to a whole lot more pieces, and the horn fired a large fire blast at the glacier. Pieces fell into the sea, and your chief and his dragon jumped from there hiding spot, they shook the ground, and gained the Trappers' attention._

" _So, it was you," he said in an all business tone. "Ugh, clearly you're not aware of the proper etiquette for this kind of event," Dagur said, not meaning what he said. "You're the ones who're causing those icebergs on Berk." "My invention didn't completely destroy those, and you said it would fail," Norbert said to spite Dagur, "Guess you can kill two birds with one stone." The chief grabbed his axe and charged at the machine, only for Eret to block his path. The Rumblehorn tried to help, but the Shivertooth jumped on him, and started clawing his back._

 _Dagur grabbed his sword and charged at the chief, but the chief was able to block the swing. Pretty soon Dagur was knocked on his rear-end and Eret's weapon was knocked out of his hand. Dagur looked at the cave, a sinister smirk grew on his face, and he grabbed a small green conch from under his robe. He blew the shell into the cave. Pretty soon, the whole pack woke up, and ran outside, with the Alpha's eyes glowing a dark green. "All stingers, surround the big one." I went in closer as the whole pack started to circle the chief and his dragon. The Rumblehorn threw the Shivertooth off, and fired at the stingers, but he missed one and got stung. The Shivertooth fired an ice shot at him, and won._

 _As for the chief, he did pretty well dodging the others, but he was so busy he didn't notice Eret pick up a rock and hit the back off his head, knocking him out. I gasped in shock, loud enough for the Alpha to hear me, "Speedy," he said furiously, "You were supposed to be practicing on the other side of the island!" "I'm sorry I didn't mean to," "ENOUGH!" I looked at him, his eyes brimming with disappointment. "Sting him." "What?" "I said, sting the human." I looked at your chief, who was on his face, his eyes closed, and told my Alpha, "But he's already unconscious, there's really no reason to-" "Sting. Him." I didn't want to, he was just trying to stop those bad men. The Alpha scoffed, and stung the chief, who turned pale from the venom._

" _Pathetic. Do something good for a change and take the human to the cave." I didn't want to make him angrier than he already was, so I picked up the chief's arm and dragged him back here, while the Trappers prepared to fire another blast._

* * *

"What are they after that they need to destroy the glacier for," Fishlegs questioned. "As I left, I heard one of the men say something about, Surtr or something," Speedy said, which only confused the group even more. "Surtr, like that giant in that fire world," Hiccup said, "I've been brushing up on the legends around here." The group thought about why Surtr would be involved with what the Dragon Trappers were up to, before Fishlegs shouted in realization, "The Surturian Flame!" "The what?" "According to legend, the Surturian Flame was the original fire that helped forge the world. The flame is said to be what provides warmth in the northern regions on the world, and what allows life to exist up here." **{1}**

"If that flame created the world, then who knows what it could do if Drago got his hands on it," Toothless said, thinking the worse possible outcome, "You think he could escape the Core?" "No, the spell trapping him can only be broken by the Dragon Gems. But it can be weakened enough for him to escape without them," Fishlegs said, which in all honesty only made the group worry more. "It's a good plan, destroy Glacier Island," "Send Berk and the surrounding islands into a deep freeze," "Use the Surturian Flame to increase temperatures on other islands," "Weaken the spell keeping him trapped," "And escape the core," "Then go on a rampage destroying the Archipelago," the teens said, each catching on to what was happening.

"Alright, we can't let this go on. Snotlout, you take Stoick back to Berk and get him some help." "What! Hiccup, you need all the help you can get if you're going against Speed Stingers, including me!" "Snotlout, we need everyone at their best, and right now, well-" "Just save it. When you need my help, I'll be busy trying to move my legs!" Snotlout said with anger as Fishlegs picked him up. "Alright everyone else, you're with me. Speedy, can you take us to where the Trappers are," Hiccup said. The young stinger nodded his head a 'yes'. "Alright, let's move out."

The group split up, Hookfang taking Snotlout and Stoick back to Berk, while the others followed Speedy through the tunnel to where Dagur, Norbert and Eret where. Along the way, Astrid asked Speedy why the Alpha Stinger was so hard on him. He said the Alpha was tired of him causing a mess of things, even though he was just trying to help. She knew what it was like, trying to prove yourself, except this time Speedy really needed it. Speedy had no respect from his pack, and when he tried to he only made things worse for himself. She on the other hand, was well respected as a warrior and a Viking. Her mind drifted back to what Hiccup said on Johann's boat, about her proving to herself that she was as good as Hiccup said she was. Maybe he was right, but she still wanted to be sure.

As they reached the end of the tunnel, Hiccup slowed down so he could be at the same pace as Astrid. "So, how do you think we're going to stop them," he asked. "I don't know, we should definitely take out their weapon first to keep them from getting to the flame. All we have to do is avoid the lunatic Trappers and the dozen Speed Stingers guarding them." "Maybe we could ask nicely," Hiccup chuckled at his suggestion. Astrid however, didn't find it funny.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you," she said, slightly raising her voice, "A whole world is at stake, and you decide to joke around." Her attitude left Hiccup just staring at her, before she said, "Sorry, it's just-" "You thought helping me would help you prove yourself." Astrid looked at Hiccup with surprise, he just kept talking. "Fishlegs told me. I thought about what you said on the boat, and I get you want to prove you that you can be a warrior, I felt a similar thing back on Dragon Island when I thought that I could never be what everyone wanted me to be. But I realized that sometimes, things aren't as bad as we make them out to be. I realized that me disappointing everyone was just in my head, and you are a good warrior, dragon trainer, and friend, who doesn't have to make such a big deal about approval." Tired of his little 'hope-speech' Astrid said, "Hiccup, what are you trying to say?" "I'm saying that if you want to prove yourself, even if it's just to you, then you have my support." He gave her a warm smile, which she returned with one of her own. The two just stared at each other, until Tuff ruined the moment.

Outside, about 28 Speed Stingers were guarding the Trapper's little "horn of destruction," although most were sleeping on it, and one was chewing on an icicle stuck in its mouth. The ones that were awake were as alert as hawks. The Alpha was standing next to Dagur, who blew the conch shell he used before again, and said "How much more, I can't keep this guy under my control for much longer" "Oh man up, you don't see me complaining," Eret fired back. "Well you two got the easy part, you just blast at mountains, and you're only here because Drago tolerates you the most. Me, I have to drain myself to keep these guys from turning on us." "Don't be so dramatic guys, we should be done with this soon enough," said the Shivertooth, which seemed to be the one from the last chapter.

"A creature with ice powers that sounds like someone doing a bad Christopher Walken impersonation, I feel like someone's done this before," Toothless remarked about the Shivertooth's voice **{2}**. "So what's the plan to get past the Speed Stingers," Fishlegs asked. "Live bait." The group, animals included turned to Fishlegs, who realized what they were thinking and said, "No, I am not doing that." "Fishlegs come on, we need someone to distract them so the rest of us can destroy the horn," Astrid pleaded. Feeling outmatched, Fishlegs sighed, "What do you want me to do?" **(Here comes funny)** Toothless looked at him with a Cheshire cat grin on his face, and said, "Dress in drag and do the hula." **{3}**

In the blink of an eye, the sound of beating drums started, waking up the sleeping Stingers, and they starred at Fishlegs, who had a grass skirt and flower necklace, along with Meatlug, who looked like a roasted pig with an apple in her mouth, while Fishlegs started to sing and dance.

 _LUAU!  
_

 _If you're hungry for a hunk of fat and juicy meat,_

 _Eat my girl Meatlug because she is a treat,_

 _(Most of the Stinger pack looked at them like a group of hungry cannibals, some even licking their lips, while Dagur was laughing his head off.)_

 _Come on down and dine,_

 _She taste like tasty swine,_

 _All you have to do is get in line!_

 _(He sees the Stingers' faces, but keeps going.)_

 _Are you achin'? (Yup Yup Yup!)_

 _For some bacon? (Yup Yup Yup!)_

 _(The rest of the group slowly walks down a ridge that went around to the other side of the horn and hid behind a large snow covered rock, unseen by their foes.)_

 _She's a big pig (yup yup!)_

 _You could be a big pig too!_

 _Doe!_

And with that, Fishlegs got on Meatlug, and flew like heck screaming as the Speed Stingers ran after them. Well, all except the Alpha, who rubbed his head in irritation, and muttered, "I'm surrounded by idiots." The shrill sound of a Night Fury was heard, and the Trappers gazed at the sky as a blast came at the horn. The blast barely missed, but it had enough force to knock it over and knock Norbert off it. The three looked up and saw the riders on their dragons, and snarled in annoyance, except Eret, who was grossed out at Ruff starring at him, again. "What's wrong Dagur, no quips, no comebacks? I thought you like that kind of stuff."

Dagur chuckled darkly, and summoned his Skrill, which fired a lightning blast at the riders. "All handle Dagur, you guys destroy the weapon," Hiccup said to Astrid and the twins, who nodded in response. He and Toothless circled back, Dagur and the Skrill following them. On the ground, Eret turned to Norbert to tell him to summon a dragon, but was surprised to not only see that Speedy had stung him, freezing him entire left side, but to see that his Shivertooth was buried under a pile of snow, with only his alligator-like mouth sticking out, "Hey, don't ask okay." Before he could say anything, he was tripped up by Barf and Belch's tail, and pinned down by the dragon. Ruff got of the Barf head, and laid down on the ground like a high school girl on her bed talking over the phone. She started to touch Eret's arms, grossing him, Tuff, and the dragons out even more. Downside, the twins and dragon got stung by the Alpha, plus side Eret was still unable to get up, as hard as he tried.

Up in the air, Hiccup and Toothless were dodging another one of the Skrill's blasts. From what information Fishlegs told him, the Skrill had about four blasts. After firing what was the third blast, Hiccup whispered into Toothless' ear, "Alright, when he fires his last shot, you fire back." "Are you crazy, remember what happened last time," Toothless questioned, remembering their first fight together, when the two blasts collide. "Exactly," he said, and Toothless quickly realized that was the plan.

Just as the Skrill fired again, Toothless spun and fired again, the blast colliding in a large explosion. Hiccup smiled, and said, "That did it." However, the Skrill adapted one of Dagur's insane grins, and as it started to inhale, Dagur said, "No, don't you dare!" His plea was ignored, and the Skrill, using its electrical powers, drew in bolts of lightning from the clouds, recharging its shot limit, while hilariously electrocuting Dagur, who did the 'high-voltage cha-cha' as the lightning surged through the Skrill. It fired another blast, this one nicking Hiccup's right arm a little. He clutched it in pain, saying, "You've got to be kidding me!" " _You can't run forever Hiccup,"_ Dagur shouted, which, due to being electrocuted, sounded only like gibberish.

The Skrill kept firing, recharging (and shocking Dagur) when he ran out. Toothless had to spin around in order to avoid getting hit. "Any ideas," Toothless asked. Hiccup looked around, seeing a glacier off the eastern coast of the island, which had a large opening dead center. The rider and dragon looked at each other, "You thinking what I'm thinking?" "Of course, I know you better than you know yourself." With that, they flew towards the opening, their pursuers staying close.

Back on the ground, Eret was still struggling to get out from under the paralyzed Zippleback laying on him, Norbert was trying to use the not paralyzed side to crawl towards the machine with no avail. Astrid was swinging her axe at the machine, knocking small pieces off, but in total, she was making little progress. The Alpha was staring down Speedy and Stormfly, the former trying to stay brave. "I've had enough of you." "Alpha listen-" "No, _you_ listen. No matter what I say, you never listen to the simplest orders. You cause more harm than good, and I've had enough of it. From this point on, you are exiled from the pack, and if you every return to Glacier Island again, I well personally make sure you never live to see the light of day again!"

Before Speedy could say anything, the Alpha rushed at him, stinger raised in the air, ready to strike. He braced himself for the sting, but it never came, for Stormfly had intercepted the blow and froze. "Stormfly!" The Alpha turned to Astrid, and rushed at her next. He was intercepted again, this time by the Shivertooth, who had gotten out of the bank of snow. "What are you doing? You're on our side," Eret shouted. "I don't care, what he said was cold. And as an ice dragon that was just trapped under a pile of snow, I know cold!" In the middle of his rant, the Alpha managed to deliver a small sting to his stomach. "Like that for instance," the alligator-esque dragon said as he froze up. The Alpha pushed him aside like a plush toy, and faced Speedy, who froze in fear. He was about to try to attack again, but this time he was stopped by a fire blast that came from the gloves Astrid got from Johann. "Hu, looks like Johann was right, these do come in handy."

She ran to Speedy, and began to comfort him. "Are you alright?" "No! I'm not!" "Speedy-" "No, you don't know what it's like to try to prove yourself, but to fail every time!" Astrid started to rub his snout, saying, "I get the feeling. I've tried to prove myself to my village, and to myself, but I still feel like I never can." "What? You've got to be one of the best humans I've ever met. You're kind, yet fierce, confident but humble. Skilled yet you could make mistakes, you don't need to prove yourself. Me however-" "You try your best, and even though you don't think of mistakes, you just want to help. Really, you shouldn't think you're a failure, you should be proud you tried." Speedy purred lightly, and put his head on Astrid's shoulder with a smile.

As Astrid patted the young Stinger's head, she realized that she should be taken her advice. What Hiccup said, he was right. She knew she was a fine warrior, and that the village respected her. She really was just making a Whispering Death tunnel out of a mole hill. She let go of Speedy, and said, "Now what say we destroy that horn." The young dragon nodded, and they walked up to the horn, and by the look of a timer on the side, they only had five minute left before it fired again. Astrid swung her axe and Speedy repeatedly rammed into it. Alas, they were unable to do anything as the clocked ticked away.

The still partially frozen Norbert laughed, and through his barely moveable mouth, he said, "You can't break my machine, it's made out of the toughest Gronkcle Iron, its cold proof, weather proof, and sound proof." An idea hit Astrid faster than a dragon at an eel party, "What about fire proof?" Norbert's good eye moved as to indicate he realized they found a weakness. "You didn't think to make it fireproof," Eret shouted. "In my defense, we were going to an ice island, I didn't think fire would be a problem." Astrid aimed her fire gloves at the underside of the machine, and fired an intense stream of flames. Within a few seconds, the outside melted, and within a minute the inner working were melted like chocolate on a hot day. "No! My beautiful creation!"

Hiccup and Toothless, who had beaten Dagur and the Skrill and left them in the glacier, flew down below and landed next to the broken machine. Hiccup got off Toothless, clutching his arm in pain from the Skrill's blast. "Well, I'd say this qualifies as proving yourself." "Yeah, thanks for believing in me." The two simply smiled at each other once again, before they realized awkwardly what was happening. "So, how'd you get rid of Dagur?" "Eh, you could say I _mirrored_ his tactics." **{4}** Astrid, unamused, said, "Wow that was terrible." "Well that stings milady," Hiccup said before realizing what he had just said, and seeing the surprised look on Astrid's face. "I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from."

Suddenly, Fishlegs came flying in on Meatlug, shouting, "The Speed Stingers are coming back!" "Hiccup looked at the twins, before looking back at Fishlegs. "Alright Fish, you take the twins, Toothless and I'll handle Astrid and Barf and Belch," Hiccup ordered. Without hesitation, Meatlug flew down, and grabbed the frozen Ruffnut with her talons, while Fishlegs carried Tuffnut across his shoulder. Astrid turned the frozen Stormfly back into her Krystal, and got on Toothless' back alongside Hiccup. He took off the ground, and picked up the paralyzed Zippleback. Eret finally got up, only to fall back, his legs were numb from the Zippleback laying on him.

Just as they were in the air, Astrid remembered the little Stinger that had helped them. "Wait," she shouted, and Toothless stopped mid-air. She turned back to Speedy, who looked at her and said, "Go on, I'll be fine." "But," "Don't worry, odds are we'll see each other again someday." With a heavy heart, Astrid turned her attention backed to what's in front of her, and let Toothless keep going. She turned back one last time to see Speedy water running away from the island just as the rest of the Stinger pack return. She hoped that he'd be okay, and that they would see each other again.

* * *

 _Berk Healer's Hut_

Stoick started to awake, his mind coming back to reality. Most of his body felt stiff, the poison of the Speed Stingers still had some effect on him. He felt warm, as if he was wrapped in a warm blanket. His back felt like he was on a rock, which didn't bother him. He began to open his eyes, they felt like a Gronckle after eating at an all you can eat rock smorgasbord. When they opened, the first thing he saw was a chicken with brown and white feathers staring right at him. **{5}**

"What the- Tuffnut, get your chicken off of me." Chicken didn't even bother waiting, he, or is it a she, jumped off him, and walked away, clucking as it did. Stoick realized where he was, and what happened to him slowly came back. He tried to move out of his bed, but his lower half was still frozen. "Don't worry, everything is taken care of." Stoick turned to see Old Wrinkly standing under the door way. He walked over to the stiffened chief. "The teens handled the Trappers and destroyed there little weapon. I must say they were quite impressive, or so I heard."

"Well, looks like Hiccup is turning out to be a fine Final Rider." "Actually, it was Astrid who saved the day." Stoick was perplexed by his in-laws statement, "Astrid?" "Yes Astrid, Hofferson girl, blonde, blue eyes, temper like a Monstrous Nightmare, that Astrid." "She was the one who destroyed the weapon?" "Yes. I must say, she might not be the Final Rider, but she still is one of the best warriors Berk has ever seen." Stoick smiled with pride a bit, the Hofferson was always a good Viking, but this, maybe she was even better than everyone thought. His thoughts came to a halt when he remembered why he went to Glacier Island to begin with.

"And what of the icebergs in the harbor?" The old man looked down at his son-in law, and wheezed, "Don't worry, all available riders are moving the icebergs back to Glacier Island without melting them." Stoick shifted (as best as he could, he was still partially paralyzed remember) with ease. "You know, I was thinking about something that the twins' Zippleback said. They mentioned the Book of Dragons said something about _"warriors of light",_ meaning more than one." "And?" "Well, Hiccup is the leader who, even if he's still new to our ways, has the skill of the finest Dragon Trainers I've ever seen. Astrid is fast and skilled in battle. Fishlegs is smart and cares for others. The twins, as chaotic as they are, are skilled in teamwork, when they want to, Ruff can use magic, and Tuff is good at unortadox thinking. Snotlout, well, let's just say he's the muscle. All six are a team" "What are you saying?" "That maybe there _is_ more than one Final Rider." With that, the elder left the chief to recover.

* * *

 _Back on Glacier Island_

While everyone was busy putting the icebergs back on the island, a cloaked figure was standing on a ridge at the glacier that the Trappers were trying to melt. The figure whispered a strange spell, and a hole in the glacier appeared. The figure walked into the opening, and walked to the end of the cave. There was the Surturian Flame, burning in a bowl atop an altar. At the back of the room was a carving, the flames were engulfing all of the Archipelago. But the stranger didn't care for the décor, or the flame.

No, instead it focused on a small object laying under the bowl the flames were in. It was a large dragon scale, about the size of the middle and ring fingers. It was mostly orange stylized in a flame pattern. In between the flames were brick red marks, with three spots of black on each red part, and at the end, where the flame pattern started was a yellow piece in the shape of an eye. The mysterious figure picked up the scale, and chuckled in a low voice, "Who would have that those trappers were so easy to dupe. Now I have the first piece of my plan. And soon, I'll have what I deserve."

* * *

 **Author's Note, now separated into little segments, because this is going to be long**

 **1** **st** **, opinion on the chapter:**

 **I'm going to be honest, this was filler. That's all this one was. In Magi-Nation, this episode equivalent was just filler. I wasn't planning on doing a chapter based on it, but I decided to do so for three reasons.**

 **To give Astrid some focus. I felt that I was making Hiccup the star, but the others just, there. I didn't want to make it seem like he was the only one that mattered. I'm trying to divide focus among the Riders, so Hiccup doesn't hog the spotlight. I even had to change the 'Hiccup was pure of heart thing' from a few chapters ago so he didn't seem like a Mary Sue. I chose Astrid for this because, well I felt she was being demoted a little. Let's be honest, we all know she and Hiccup are going to end up together at some point in this story, and I'm trying to add ship tease and develop their relationship, but I don't want to make her just be just that, a character who shows up but only for romance. How it worked out this time, eh, she saved the day and developed a bit, but really with this chapter being filler, well personally I thought it could have been executed a little better.**

 **To introduce Speedy. I don't know why, but I just like the little Stinger. I felt he had some potential to be a good character. So I put him in, and gave him a sort Hiccup in the first movie kind of role, an outcast who feels like a disappointment but becomes a, well this is K-rated, but you know the word.**

 **That figure at the end, he's not working with Drago. Bum Bum BUUUUUUUUUUUUUM! That's right, I'm adding another villain to this story. Why, well I want to use this new villain to take filler chapters and make them important by using them as a secondary villain arc. Who do you think it is?**

 **2** **nd** **, notes, things I feel I should mention, there usually numbered in {}**

 **1: That is not true, I made it up. I got the original fire idea from the Greek myth of Prometheus, and the creating the world thing is just for some myth backstory. Surtr and Muspelheim are a part of the Norse myths, are characters may be fictional, but there beliefs are mostly real.**

 **2: If you're a Digimon fan, you know what I'm talking about.**

 **3: I got that hula thing from The Lion King. I was watching it when I was writing this and I saw the luau scene. I cracked up. SO I said, why not have Fishlegs do that to distract the Speed Stingers? The rest is history.**

 **4: Basically he did what he did to stop the Skrill in A View to Skrill.**

 **5: Yeah, like you guys thought I'd forget Tuff's Chicken. I love that little bird, and so do a lot of other fans. Its role is some comedic relief, the beak, if you will. "The Chicken is not amused." Why hasn't they become a meme.**

 **3** **rd** **, Announcements**

 **So, about the one-shots, there's been a dely. I'm still going to do it, but I realized that I'm a rookie, not much experience. Like I said, I'm going to do it, but updates will be random. It could go from just a week to months. Remember, that's just a side-project to help with the characterization, and musical moments. What, I can't have fun. Think of this story as a tv program, and the one-shots are shorts that you see during commercials. Also the musical one-shots will be used in the same format as when Fishlegs did the hula, with character actions written between ().**

 **4** **th** **, Anything I have to say that doesn't involve this chapter**

 **Now, this part involves the new Race to the Edge episodes, Well, just one. I know I said I wasn't going to spoil anything, but this is just one thought I can't get out of my head. If you haven't seen the episodes, don't read this next part. If you haven't seen them but you really don't care about spoilers, you can read, but I won't give away too much. If you have seen the episodes, well you can do what you want.**

 _The plot of one of the episodes is Snotlout loses the Jorgenson family axe he was supposed to present at a wedding ceremony, between a Jorgenson and a (not giving that away), but it was ultimately pointless as the union was called off. Question is: was there a wedding that was called off due to some off screen disaster, or was Spitelout lying to his son to make him feel bad about himself? I mean, let's be honest, Spitelout is a perfectionist, and anyone who doesn't live up to his ideas of what a Viking should be is utterly meaningless to him. And the way he reacts at the end of the episode, it was as if he had a back-up plan incase Snotlout did his job successfully. I don't know, it's a case of alternate scene interpretation._

 **You may now keep reading.**

 **5** **th** **, (last one) reviewer shout-out**

 **AdmiringRoseBlossom11- To keep it simple, Toothless will be a cat whenever there isn't any fighting or flying. Strolling around Berk? Cat. Blasting Dragon Trappers? Dragon.**

 **Guest- I love Magi-Nation too. It's such a shame, the game was too good to last. The show, well I loved it as a kid, but nowadays, well I'm lukewarm. It had some good ideas, but really didn't go any were with them. The plot idea was decent, and the fight scenes were cool, but to me the characters felt static. There isn't any explanation as to why the villains were evil, and sometimes characters have traits that show up in one episode but are never brought up again. To me, its average.**

 **cowboyhopper- Thank you, it's nice to get good feedback. I'll try to make sure future chapters are as good as they could be. One question, when you say "how recent it was," do you mean this story, or Magi-Nation? Just asking.**

 **Sorry this was so long.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was poster January 21, 2016.**


	7. Chapter 5 (Attack of the Hunters)

**Author's Note: I'M NOT DEAD! Sorry I took so long, this chapter was tough to write, plus I got a bad stomach bug in between writing, february wasn't a good month for me. Anyway, for those of you who don't know, the one-shot** **series was put up shortly after the previous chapter was posted. The first one isn't so good, but I just wanted to get up. This chapter's gonna make some progress in our second-villain arc. One more thing, we gonna have some have a 'guest party member or two' if you catch my drift.**

 **Except for any o/c dragons, people or items, and the idea to right this, I've got nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Attack of the Hunters

 _Berk Dragon Academy, round noon-ish_

"Okay, Sharpshot fire," Hiccup commanded. On the other side of the arena, Astrid was throwing small wooden disks in to the air, and the small green Terror fired at each one she threw. The shots were quick and precise, scoring a bull's-eye on each. The terror flew down and landed on Hiccup's extended arm, and received a quick pet. "Not bad, I'd say your dragon training skills are improving," Astrid complimented. "Great, so can we go now, we've been here since sun rise," Snotlout complained. "We've only been here an hour," Hiccup pointed out. "Either way, I need my beauty sleep." "He's not wrong," Astrid whispered. "So, why did we all come her again?" "Well, Tuff, as the Final Rider, Hiccup needs to know how to handle wild dragons and be able to train them to," Astrid said, "And since there are so many, we need to give him as many tips as possible." The twins just stared in confusion.

"Well, if you want to learn how to train dragons, you've come to the right place," Snotlout said, full of himself. He grabbed his hammer and summoned Hookfang, "All you have to do is show 'em whose boss," he said before jumping onto the Nightmare's back. Hookfang being, well, Hookfang, set himself on fire, and Snotlout threw himself into the trough of water screaming, "That's the third time this week!" "Yeah, no offense Snotlout, but that's no better than what Drago does," Hiccup said. "Speaking of Drago, why haven't we heard anything about Dragon Trapper movement since Glacier Island," Astrid questioned. "Don't forget about that dumb Book of Dragons, it hasn't given us clues to any Dragon Gems in like forever," Ruffnut whined. "It's only been two weeks."

While the others were busy, Toothless was trying to nap, but it was hard with Fishlegs flipping through book pages and saying things like, "No that's not it," and "There's gotta be more." Eventually, he got tired of it and asked, "Fishlegs, could you please keep it down?" "Sorry, I was just trying to figure something out." "What?" "The other day, when the Dragon Trappers tried to find the Surturian Flame, I can't help but feel something was off." "Like what?" "I don't know." Toothless rolled his eyes and starred back at Hiccup's failed attempts to make his shield work. While Fishlegs kept talking. "But I remember there was another part of the legend I'm forgetting, something about a piece that-" Toothless' eyes wondered around the arena until he a vague shape flying towards the forest. He looked back at Fishlegs and said, "Hey Fishlegs, could you use that fancy eye relic of yours to see if something just landed in the forest?"

"It's called a _'Sight of the Dragons'_ replicator, but yes I can." Fishlegs grabbed the round relic out of a pocket on his tunic, and used its power to see what Toothless was talking about. When he did, he started to freak out. "Oh no, oh no, this is not good!" "What is it Fishlegs," Hiccup asked, in Fishlegs' commotion he had earned the attention of the others. "Someone's in danger, and they need our help." Without a second thought, the group called on their dragons, and were off to the forest.

* * *

 _Forest_

When they arrived at the spot where the figure landed, they saw a group of dragons attacking a single one. The group contained two Deadly Nadders, and a cyan and pink Monstrous Nightmare. One of the Nadders was purple, while the other Nadder, the largest of the three, was a pale green, with red legs and highlights. All three had scars covering them, marking them as aggressive, as if the growling wasn't enough. But the strangest thing about them was they didn't have any armor, so it was hard to tell if they were enslaved by Drago. The lone dragon was a Hobblegrunt, whose scales had changed to red, showing it was angry. Behind the Hobblegrunt, laying on a tree stump, was a figure with a red cloak wrapped around the person's body, making it unclear whether it was a man or a women, but from the Hobblegrunt's protective stance it was his rider. The Monstrous Nightmare fired a blast, and the Hobblegrunt fired a fire stream of a similar consistency right back. But then the smaller Nadder fired a volley of spikes, and the Hobblegrunt had to stop firing in order to protect his rider.

Without warning, Toothless fired at the large Nadder, who heard the sound of the blast and jumped away. "Stay out of this, you human pets" the Nadder said directed at Rider's dragons. Hookfang, taking offense to that 'pet' comment, fired, but the blast was intercepted by one from the smaller Nadder. "Go on sir, we'll take care of these nuisances." With a squawk of understanding, the larger Nadder looked back at the Hobblegrunt while the other two dragons took to the sky. They flew right at the group, who had to dodge the rush from the two aggressive dragons. "We'll help the Hobblegrunt, you guys handle the dragons," Hiccup said to the group, they nodded in response. He landed Toothless and grabbed the Dragon Blade, Fishlegs and Meatlug behind the Hobblegrunt to help the mystery person, while Astrid, Snotlout and the twins tackled to two dragons above.

"This is none of your concern, now leave and we will consider letting you go," the large Nadder said. "You'll 'consider', well that's quite the offer there, pal," Hiccup quipped. "One question though, why does Drago want with this guy," he said, motioning his head to the person on the stump, whom Fishlegs was guarding. "Don't you dare accuse me of working for that madman, I'd rather be skinned alive than obey that man's orders," the Nadder snapped. _'If they don't work for Drago, then who,'_ Hiccup wondered. He didn't have time to wonder though as the Nadder fired a Spine Shot at him, so he took his shield and held it in front of himself. "Alright bud, let's send these guys packing,' he said as he mounted himself on Toothless' back. The Night Fury fired a blast at the Nadder, which was supported by more blasts from Meatlug and the Hobblegrunt. The dragon jumped out of the way, and fired some spikes, then the Hobblegrunt, still red with anger (literally) charged at him.

Meanwhile in the air, things weren't going good for the others. The Nadder was shooting spines left and right, and the two Monstrous Nightmares were locking talons aflame, and setting Snotlout on fire. Briefly losing his grip, Hookfang was almost flung out of the sky by the green Nightmare, but managed to stay airborne. "Okay, we need a plan," Snotlout said, trying to extinguish any remaining flames. "Don't look at us." "Yeah, we've got our own problems," the twins shouted, trying to avoid the Nadder spikes. Stormfly was shooting spikes too, but the other dragon kept dodging, and Hookfang was too close to the other dragon to fire at, she was in a tough spot. "If we don't think of something soon, we're toast," she said, her rider silently agreeing. Astrid tried to think of a solution, when she saw something odd. The other Nadder's spines weren't hitting there mark. Usually Nadder's have great accuracy when it comes to shooting spines. Realizing this, and seeing how the two Monstrous Nightmares were brawling, Astrid came up with an idea.

Back on the ground, the Hobblegrunt was wrestling the large Nadder, but was losing. With a massive push, the Hobblegrunt was thrown off, and landed against a tree. It tried to get up, but he was too exhausted. The Nadder slowly walked towards the downed dragon, the spines on his tail raising up strike, but a lava blast from Meatlug forced him to step back. He stared at the two rider's dragons and scoffed, "This is none of your concern. Leave and let us capture the human." "Love to, but we don't exactly give up," Toothless remarked. "Well then, I guess I'll have to capture the human by force!" The Nadder blasted Toothless with a torrent of flame, but was blocked when Hiccup jumped in front, his shield stopping the flames from hitting.

As for the air battle, Astrid was about to put her plan into action, but saw the battle on the ground. She wanted to help, but she needed to help the others. "Alright girl, let's take care of these guys," she said as she patted the side of Stormfly's head. The Nadder shook her head a yes, and Astrid tapped the back of the dragon's head. In the blink of an eye, Stormfly fired a single spine, which nicked the tail of the purple Nadder. Screeching in pain, the dragon turned its attention away from the twins, and to Astrid and Stormfly. It flew at them with rage, but the duo moved out of the way. Stormfly fired a blast at the other Nadder, once again hitting its mark. The twins, who weren't sure what to do, looked at each other and said, "What are we supposed to do?" "I don't know, maybe watch Snotlout get burned some more." "I love that idea." Rolling their four eyes, Barf and Belch decided to take matters into their own hands, and started to fly around and release some Zippleback gas. The green fog shortly engulfed all dragons in the air, and when Astrid and Snotlout realized this, they had Stormfly and Hookfang fly them out of there, leaving the two enemy dragons inside the sphere of smoke. The Nightmare set itself on fire to see through the gas, before realizing what it was, and made and explosion.

The noise caught the attention of the large Nadder on the ground, giving Toothless enough time to ram into it, knocking him down. When he got up, he was surrounded by the riders, their dragons, alongside the Hobblegrunt, and the other dragons fell to the ground. "Retreat," the large Nadder said begrudgedly. "But sir, what if they find out we didn't capture the girl," the smaller Nadder said. "I don't care if they find out, I've had enough of him. We're leaving." With that, the trio of scared dragons left.

Sighing with relief, the riders turned their dragons back to Krystal form, and Toothless turned back into a cat. "Alright Fishlegs, care to explain why we came here," Astrid asked, before seeing Fishlegs help the mystery girl up on her feet. The hood of her cape fell off, revealing a girl with wild blonde hair and blue eyes, not unlike Astrid's, albeit a darker shade. She wore a red shirt to match the cloak, along with a small dark blue vest in between. She wore dark brown pants, with matching boots. Her accessories included two gold hoop earrings, a green bead necklace, and a sword at her left hip. The riders recognized her instantly.

"Cami!?" **(1)** "Cami, as in 'Camicazi', as in the Bog Burglar heir," a confused Hiccup asked. "Right on the nose," Cami said. She tried to move some more, but pain exploded in her knee and she almost fell to the ground, and she would have if her Hobblegrunt hadn't caught her. "Thanks Emo," she said as Emo's scales changed to a calmer color. "What are you doing here, and why were those dragons after you," Fishlegs asked. "I'll tell you when you take me to Stoick, it's a very dangerous matter," Cami said in a serious voice. Needing no explanation, the group took Cami and Emo to the Great Hall.

* * *

 _The Great Hall_

After the group took Cami and her dragon to the Great Hall, they got Stoick, Gobber and Gothi to help. Gothi had finished brewing a strange concoction in which she dipped a rag into. She walked over to Cami to wrap the rag around her leg, the smell of the brew filled the room and it smelled like Mildew's cabbage field covered in raw fish. "Ugh, it smells worse than that fish oil Ruff puts in her hair," Tuff remarked. "You put fish oil in your hair," Toothless asked. "Duh, this greasy, unwashed look doesn't just happen overnight." "Gothi, what did you put in that thing," Snotlout asked. The elder scribbled in the ground, which Gobber translated as, "A cup of dried Dragon Nip, a dash of Tide Glider saliva, and a pinch of dead fish guts" WHACK "Correction; ground up Nadder spine. Not 'ta sound rude or anything, but it sounds like ya' making this stuff up." WHACK.

Though she struggled at first, Cami was able to stand up pretty fast, Gothi giving Gobber a smug grin. "Alright lass, now why is it you came here, and why were you being chased," Stoick asked. Looking at the ground with a sad face, Cami said, "The Bog is under attack by Dragon Hunters." That one line sent shockwaves throughout the room, even the twins were surprised. "'Dragon Hunters,' like Dragon Trappers," Hiccup asked. "Worse," Fishlegs said, fear ringing in his voice, "When it comes to handling dragons, there are three kinds of people, Dragon Riders, who train and ride dragons, Trappers, who capture dragons for Drago, and Dragon Hunters, who capture and poach dragons for profit." "Yeah, they don't care what happens to dragons, as long as they get paid," Cami said, her voice filled with rage. "When did this happen," Toothless asked. Looking up from the ground and at the other people around her, she told the story with a heavy heart.

"It was just an average day on the Bog, I was trying to outrun my uncle Vinnie, something about me stealing his underpants while he was wearing them again. By the way Stoick, are you still mad about the time I did that to you?" The chief gave no response except an angry glare. "You stole his underpants while he was _wearing_ them," Hiccup asked. "Yup, but that's nothing, every Bog Burglar can do that. No, my best moment was the time I stole my mom's bra while she was wearing it," she said with a hint of pride, not noticing the disgusted look on Hiccup and Toothless' faces. "But while we were running, the security horn started to blow. I wanted to see what was going on, so I called on Phantom to see what was going on. When we got up in the sky, I saw the Hunters, but not just any Hunters. No, we were under attack by the Grimborn brothers."

Fishlegs shrieked like a little girl upon the mention of the Grimborns, earning him weird looks from the others. "Sorry." "This is bad. The Grimborn brothers are the best Dragon Hunters in the business," Stoick commented. "Yeah, Ryker, he may look like a brute, but I hear he can track dragons just by smell," Ruff commented. "Plus, I hear his brother Viggo is so smart, he could've played Hiccup the first like a harp," Tuff added. "If I could continue please," Camicazi said with a hint of irritation. The twins stopped talking, allowing her to keep talking.

"Anyway, pretty soon they landed on our shores. They fired their arrows at any dragon they saw, trained or not. A group came into the village and started looking for something. I tried to help fight them, I even managed to take a few down, but there were too many to fight back. Next thing I knew, my mom was calling my name. I turned around to see her fighting Ryker, and she was losing. I ran to help her, but she told me to leave and threw a satchel at me. She said to leave and no matter what the cost, don't let the Hunters get what was in it. As much as I didn't want to, I had no choice. I took the satchel and mounted up, but when I tried to fly away on Phantom, she got hit by one of their arrows. I didn't want to leave her behind either, but I couldn't let them get what was in the bag. So I summoned Emo and flew out of their arrows range. I thought I was safe, but Ryker sent those dragons after me. I was too exhausted from everything that happened that I just passed out on Emo's back. Next thing I knew, Fish over was helping me and you all were fighting the dragons that chased me."

"What was in the satchel that your mom didn't want the Hunters to get," Snotlout asked. "I don't know, I didn't check," Cami replied. "But I guess now's the best time to check," she said as she motioned for her dragon to come. She reached in to the satchel, which was hanging off of Emo's saddle, and pulled out what was in. "No way," Fishlegs said in awe upon seeing what was in the bag. "It's not really that impressive," Hiccup said. "'Not that impressive', Hiccup, do you know what this is?" Really it wasn't that impressive at first glance. It looked like a cherry the size of a radish, but with two green stems coming out of the top, and a large number of blue leaves.

"This is Loki's Root. **(2)** " The twins screamed like fangirls upon hearing the name 'Loki', they enjoyed his work. "Oh boy, here we go," Snotlout said, knowing an explanation was coming up. "Every tribe has a Relic that is passed down through the generations. For us Hooligans, it's the Book of Dragons, for the Bog Burglars, its Loki's Root." "Legend says, that if you eat one of the leaves, you'll be as smart as Loki himself," "Yeah, imagine all the pranks you'd be able to pull off with Loki's brain," the twins said, fantasizing about said pranks. Hiccup leaned over to Toothless, and whispered "If they somehow end up on Earth, remind me not to let them watch any Marvel movies with Loki in it." **(3)**

"What would tha' Grimborns want ta' do with that," a confused Gobber said. "I don't know, but we can't let them get a hold of it. I want Loki's Root to be hidden at once, and someone guarding it at all time," Stoick ordered. "What about my village?" "That'll have to wait." Cami's face exploded with rage, "No! We can't let them just take over the Bog, we have to stop them." "I know your upset Cami, but the Grimborns are the best Hunters in the business, Berk on its own won't be able to free your village on its own. We'll send out messages to our allies and ask them for help." "But-" "That is final," Stoick barked, quitting Cami. "I know you're worried about your village, but you can't do it on your own lass. Come on Gobber, we need to start sending letters to the other tribes for help." With that, the three adults left the Great Hall, leaving the teens alone.

"This is the part where you ignore him and go to save your village, isn't it," Hiccup said. "You think? You can't keep a Bog Burglar down" the Bog Burglar heir remarked. "And I'm also assuming that we either help you or get out of the way?" "Woah, woah, woah, we are _not_ going to fly straight into Dragon Hunter territory," Snotlout said, trying to take charge. "Look, my home is in danger, and I'm saving it with or without your help, and if not if you're not, then step aside Snotface," Cami said full-heartedly. Knowing he was beat, Snotlout sighed, "Alright, fine. But only because things around here are boring." "Great, we leave in ten minutes.

* * *

 _Bog Burglar Island_

When the Bog was in sight, the Riders could see that Cami was serious about the scale of the attack. About 6 ships blocked the harbor, preventing any one from leaving by ship. The group had to fly above the clouds to prevent being spotted, and go around the island to avoid getting spotted. They ended on the far side of the village, just far away enough that they couldn't be seen. Upon further inspection, it was worse. Dragons were being herded up in cages, and people were being placed under house arrest, anyone who left was placed in a guarded Bog prison. All the full cages of dragons were being loaded onto carts, and sent to the boats, probably to be sold to who knows who.

In one of the cages was an angry Monstrous Nightmare, snarling at one of the Hunters. He banged his mace against the cage, and told the dragon, "Quiet down ya' useless lizard." His threat was cut short, because Ryker Grimborn had slammed his face against the cage and in a threatening voice, said, "Just load 'em up." "Yes, Ryker, sorry Ryker," the frightened Hunter said. Ryker turned the soldiers head so that it faced the Nightmare and spoke some more," Look at him, powerful, perfect. Remember, they're smarter than you." The Nightmare snarled, and tried to bite off the Hunters head, only to bite one of the cage bars instead. Having predicted the dragon's next move, Ryker threw the soldier to the ground behind him. He stared the Nightmare right in the eye, and said, "But not me." The Nightmare struggled to remove its jaws from the cage, while Ryker walked away without batting an eye.

From their hiding spot, the teens saw the whole event. To say they'd have their hands full taking back the Bog, was an understatement. "Okay, we need to take out Ryker, if we do we should be able to end this invasion," Hiccup said with seriousness. "Don't forget free all those dragons that were captured," Ruff said, followed by her brother who said, "And the people. "And my mom," Cami followed up. "We've got our work cut out for us," Hiccup summarized "Fishlegs, how many Hunters do you count?" The chubby Viking scanned the village, counting every one wearing Hunter attire, "Hmm, I count about two dozen in the village, six guarding the docks, and twenty more across the ships." "Great, we've only got like, ten to deal with," Tuffnut said. Ruff hit her brother on the head, saying, "No, it's twenty." "Ten." "Twenty." "Ten." "Twenty." "Thirty. Wait what?" "It's fifty you muttonheads," Cami snapped, "And that's not counting the ones _in_ the ships."

Hiccup thought for a moment, trying to come up with an idea on how to stop the Hunters. "Hey, I've got an idea." The others braced themselves for what would surely be a terrible idea, but were surprised to hear what Tuff said. "Okay, so we split up, one group creates a distraction with their dragons, while the others set the dragons free." The group stared at Tuff for a moment, speechless, until Toothless broke the silence, "Well, they say even a broken clock is right once a day." "What's a clock," Cami asked Fishlegs, who just gave her a "beats me" look and shoulder shrug. "Okay good, but who does what," Fishlegs questioned. "I don't know, I haven't gotten that far. Give me a week to think." "Tuff, we don't have a week. The Hunters could set sail at any moment," Astrid pointed out.

Camicazi scoffed, "Okay, you know what, I'm in charge now." "Umm, Cami, technically, Hiccup is in charge, he is the Final Ridder after all" Fishlegs nervously said. "Well, Final Rider or not, little Hiccup here doesn't have any experience with Dragon Hunters." "'Little', I'm taller than you," Hiccup said offended. "You know what, I say we just get in there and start blasting everything," Snotlout suggested. "We vote that," Tuff said, speaking for him and his sister. "Alright, alright, we're not getting anywhere, so I say we listen to little miss burglar over here," Toothless said, raising his voice ever so slightly. "Thank you. Now, here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

One of the soldiers outside Chief Bertha's house sighed, "How much longer do we have to stand here?" "Until Ryker comes back and dismisses us," the other said. "Why are we even guarding her, it's not like she has anywhere else to go?" "Because Bog Burglars are masters of thievery and escape," said Ryker, who was walking up to them with two more soldiers behind him. The two straighten themselves and stiffened like mannequins. "Go help load the remaining dragons onto the boats, we leave in one-hour. You two, stay out here and _don't_ move," Ryker said to the soldiers.

Opening the door, Ryker stepped into the building, and once the door was shut, ducked to dodge the axe Bertha threw at his head. Bertha was handcuffed to a beam in the center of the room, but the chains were long enough for her to move to a certain extent, and the guards forgot to take any weapons in the building. The chieftess scowled at the Hunter, who merely said, "You've only got an hour left before we leave, so you better talk." The chieftess didn't say a word, she only looked away, aggravating Ryker. He started to reach for his sword, before Bertha spoke, not even bothering to look his way, "I know your brother got the brains in the family, but even you must know that if you kill me, you'll never be able to get Loki's Root." Ryker's hand moved away from his weapon, and said "Maybe, but all I have to do is get your daughter and then Loki's Root 'll be mine." "Don't underestimate my daughter, she's probably long passed the borders of the central Archipelago by now, while those dragons you sent are probably scratching their heads and going, 'Where'd she go? We should have known better to go after a Bog Burglar, Masters of Escape, and the smartest tribe this side a' the Sea of Despair.'"

Suddenly, one of the soldiers outside came rushing in, "Ryker sir, a bunch of Dragon Riders have started attacking the men, one of them could be the girl." Bertha's face shifted to a worried expression, while Ryker smiled sinisterly, "Looks like you Bogs aren't so smart after all." Ryker and the soldier left the shocked chieftess alone in the prison that was her house.

* * *

Outside, Snotlout, the twins and their dragons were shooting at the posts the hunter soldiers were standing at. But Hookfang, Barf and Belch weren't the only dragons. No, their other dragons were getting in on the excitement as well. Down by the docks, Scauldy was performing a hit-and-run assault on the soldiers, firing scalding blasts, then diving underwater. Over by the village plaza, Torch was shooting jets of flame at any soldier who came close, the flames dying when they reached the swampy ground that composed the bog's land. One of the soldiers tried to get the jump on Torch, but much to his surprise, the ground below swallowed him, thanks to Death Ride's digging. He tried to get out of the tunnel, but heard a growl. He turned around, only to be frozen in place, and out of a tunnel came a glowing pink and violet Flightmare, with hints of orange and blue. **(4)**

"Oh yeah Trancemare, that's my girl," Ruff shouted with pleasure. Ryker scoffed, unamused by what was so obviously a distraction, "Take 'em down. That girl's a fool, she delivered Loki's Root, and some more profits." With that said, he turned around and walked back into Bertha's house/prison. Much to his not-surprise, a person with the same cloak Cami was wearing before was trying to pick open the chains. He grabbed her by the back of her head and said, "You shouldn't have come back." He turned her head around, but upon closer inspection, it was not Cami, but Astrid who was under the cloak. "Where is she," Ryker said, raising his voice in Astrid's face. "Long gone, she's already past the eastern borders of the Archipelago. You'll never get Loki's Root," she said smugly.

Ryker growled in anger, and threw Astrid to the side. One of the soldiers came in and grabbed Astrid's arms and pulled her to her feet. "Don't let her escape. I may not know where the girl went, but you just cost your friends their dragons," Ryker said before storming out. Once outside, he grabbed a bow and quiver of arrows lying on the ground, pulled an arrow back to his chin, and let the arrow loose at Torch. The arrow struck his left leg, and Ryker waited for the Typhoomerang to falter, but much to his surprise, the dragon just kept attacking. Ryker aimed another arrow at Ruffnut's Trancemare, but it didn't do anything either. The leader of the Hunters was really starting to get angry.

Meanwhile at the docks, away from the soldiers Scauldy was distracting, Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs and Cami were stealth fully climbed aboard the ship furthest from any Hunter soldier. "See, I told you having Ruff use magic to copy Meatlug's resistance to Dragon Root and giving it to Snotface and the twins' dragons was a great idea," Cami said with pride. "I must admit, I didn't think they were expecting magic," Hiccup said, genuinely impressed by Cami's plan. "Remember, that spell wears off in twenty minutes, and we've got fifteen minutes and thirteen seconds remaining," Fishlegs said with worry. "Anyone else getting a sense of Deja-vu," Toothless asked. "What do you mean bud," Hiccup asked. "I don't know, I just get the strange feeling the four of us have done stuff like this before. It's really weird."

The group quieted down when they heard the footsteps of a hunter who stayed onboard the vessel. Giving the two boys a sign to remain quiet, Cami stepped out from behind the cabin of the ship, rolled behind some barrels, summersaulted behind the mast, all while the soldier seemed confused at what he was hearing. Grabbing his bow and an arrow, he slowly approached the mast, but when he checked behind, no one was there. "Hey." He looked up only to see Cami drop on him from one of the sail posts **(I don't speak ship)** , knocking him out. "Whew, not bad," and impressed Toothless said. "Thank you," Cami replied. She grabbed the keys from the Hunters belt, "Now come on, we have some dragons to free.

The foursome opened the hatch, and went below deck. Upon entering, they saw at least a dozen dragons, all of different species, caged and muzzled, their wings strapped to their backs, and their legs chained to the sides. Some were sleeping through the ordeal going on in the village, still under the effects of the dragon root, others were whining in pain, but the whining turned into cries of help upon seeing their saviors. "Okay, if the others are still distracting the Hunters, then we got a little while to free these guys, and do the same on the other ships," Fishlegs calculated. Cami handed the boys some keys, and the trio started to open cages and unpick the lock on the chains and muzzles. "Cami, I found Phantom," Fishlegs called.

Without a second thought, Cami finished picking the locks on a Zippleback she was freeing and rushed over to Fishlegs. Much to her shock and horror, her beloved Changewing didn't fare much better than the other captive dragons, her muzzle only allowing a small part of her snout to show. Cami pushed Fishlegs out of the way as soon as he opened the cage, and wrapped her arms around her dragon, who began to croon softly, "I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner girl," Cami said, tears starting to appear in her eyes. The dragon warbled something that could be interpreted as "I never doubted you'd come back."

While rider and dragon reunited, Hiccup kept picking locks and freeing dragons, "Alright, Bud, how many more dragons are left," he asked. "About five left." "Alright that should do it" Hiccup said as he finished undoing a chain around a Nadder's leg. Once the Nadder left the cage, Hiccup went over to the next one, and saw a peculiar dragon. "Hey Fishlegs, do you know what kind of dragon this is?"

The dragon inside the cage had a sky blue, serpent like body, with an arrow like tip on its tail. It had small horns on its crocodile-esque head, two on the back, and one nasal horn, with matching teeth. A trail of spikes, a darker shade, going down its back, with had five claws per talon, something the average dragon didn't have. But the oddest trait this dragon had were the wings. They were like a Night Fury's, but a turquoise blue, with traditional blue _feathers_ , this dragon has _feathers,_ and it's as bizarre as it sounds. "Woah, this is a Skyfang. It's a Strike Class dragon that is nearly impossible to spot during the day. They're known for being the only dragon in recorded history to have feathers, and, for some reason, enter a cocoon-stage during the Shortwing stage of dragon maturity, and after about four or five months, emerge, having lost all their feathers, except on their wings. They're also known for being incredibly impressive in flight, and-" "Okay Fishlegs, I get it, very impressive dragon.

Sliding the key into the lock, Hiccup opened the cage, and the Skyfang's eyes moved with fear. Hiccup approached slowly, the dragon trying to move back as he came closer. Puzzled by the dragon's movements, Hiccup asked, "Fishlegs, are Skyfangs always like this?" "Well, I've heard they're somewhat timid, but their normally very trusting of humans," the confused Fishlegs replied. Reaching out his hands slowly, trying not to further startle the dragon, Hiccup undid the muzzle around the dragon's mouth. "Hey there, we're not going to hurt you, we're your friends." The Skyfang didn't say anything, further confusing Hiccup. He wondered why the dragon wouldn't speak, until he saw what the Dragon Hunters did to the poor dragon. They gave it a large scar that nearly covered the entirety of the dragon's right claw. "Oh, you poor thing," Toothless said with sadness. With his resolve to help Cami drive the Hunters out further strengthen, Hiccup undid the all the chains and wing restraints on the Skyfang.

"Uh, guys, we now have ten minutes and thirty-five seconds left until Ruff's spell wears off," Fishlegs said with a hint of panic. "We need to go help them," Cami affirmed. "But what about the dragons on the other ships," Toothless said. "I'll keep freeing them, now go," she said, "Now let's go kick some Hunter butt!" The trio of humans, Toothless and the freed dragons took flew out of the ship and into the air, except for the Skyfang, who was too busy wondering why a human would help him.

* * *

As the Hunters kept trying to figure out how to take out the Riders, Astrid was still held captive inside Bertha's house, only now handcuffed to the stairs. Ruff's spell was going to were off in roughly five more minutes, leaving them and their dragons defenseless. She had to get out and help, so hopefully the next part of Cami's plan would happen, like right now. She looked over at Chief Bertha, who was still looking worried about her daughter. She leaned over to Astrid, and whispered, "Whatever it is you're planning, you might want to do it now."

One of the guards heard Bertha, and faced towards the two, "Hey, no talking, and don't bother trying to escape." "In case you've forgotten, if there's one thing we Bog Burglars are good at, it's escaping," Bertha said with pride, before bursting into laughter. "What? What's so funny?!" The guard was unaware that a Sneaky, Astrid's Terrible Terror was sitting on his head. The other guard however, noticed this, and was about to grab his weapon, when his hand got bit and he shrieked in pain. Snotlout's Terrible Terror, Pain, a small purple Terror, had bitten him, and if there is one thing this dragon was good at, it was biting people. The other guard heard, but was quickly knocked out by Butt and Head, two yellow Terrors that belonged to the Twins, whose' skills were basically ramming into each other.

Bertha stopped laughing and just stared, confused at what just happened. Sneaky grabbed the keys in his mouth, and gave them to Astrid, who unpicked the locks on her handcuffs, "Your daughter thinks of everything."

* * *

Outside, Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs, Meatlug, and the dragons that were freed from the ship were helping the other riders, while Cami and Phantom were on the ground, breaking the captive Bog Burglars out of prison. The female warriors, and the scarce male, charged at the soldiers. Toothless' shrieks filled the air, and his blasts knocked the soldiers over like ten pins. "Alright bud, just a few more," Hiccup said to Toothless. They were too busy to notice a rogue arrow fly through the sky, and nick Toothless' underside. The Night Fury lost control pretty easily, and crashed landed. Hiccup was thrown off pretty easily, and Toothless ended up as a cat again.

"So, it can shapeshift to, that'll up the value even more," said Ryker, who'd see the two fall. Getting back up on his feet, Hiccup stood in front of his friend, holding out the Dragon Blade. Ryker looked at the sword with interest, "I know that sword. So, you're the Final Rider, the rumors were right, you don't look like much." "The rumors about you are true too, you look like a psycho," Hiccup quipped. Ryker didn't even crack a smile, he only had a look of seriousness on his face, "Hand over Loki's Root, and the Night Fury while you're at it, and me and my men will leave. One time offer." "Hmm, sorry but I don't see any Night Furies around here," Hiccup said playfully, making Ryker growl under his breath. "Okay, now here's my offer, leave and your men won't learn what burning flesh smells like. Who knows, maybe Drago will go easy on you." For once Ryker cracked a small chuckle, "I don't work for Drago." Hiccup was surprised, he was thinking that this whole thing was connected to Drago. "Really?"

Unaware to Hiccup, an archer was hiding around the corner. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver, and set himself up for when Ryker gave the signal. "No, I may be a Hunter, but even I wouldn't work for that lunatic." "Well at least we agree on that. What, if you don't work for Drago, then why did you come here?" "I ran into someone, who's offered a large amount of loot for the Hunters assistance ingathering a few 'valuables', one of which is Loki's Root." Hiccup pretended to search his pockets and said, "Hmm, must've left them in my other tunic." By now, Ryker's patience had run out, and he raised his fist to the sky **(Don't start)** , signaling the archer to let loose his arrow.

But it never came. As the archer was about to shoot, a loud roar that sounded like a massive gust of wind rang out, and he was hit by a jolt of blue lightning. The commotion caught Hiccup's attention, and seeing an opportunity, Ryker charged, shouting a fierce battle cry. Hiccup braced himself for the hit that was going to come, but a blue blur landed in between him and Ryker, and fired, knocking the sword out of Ryker's hands. Hiccup opened his eyes, and saw that his savior was the Skyfang that he released. The dragon growled, or attempted the growl, as blue electricity sparked in his mouth.

Looking around, Ryker saw that the Riders, Bogs and freed dragons were winning, pushing his men back. Ryker shouted, "Retreat," with hesitance. Without another word, the soldiers retreated back to the boats, and Ryker looked at Hiccup, and said "We will meet again Final Rider," before leaving with his men. Cries of victory came out from the villagers, for the Hunters had been driven away. Hiccup walked over to the dragon that had saved him and Toothless, and asked, "Why'd you save me?" "Because you saved me," the Skyfang said in a soft voice.

* * *

A few hours later, must of the Bog's village was repaired. All the Hunter's weapons were either thrown into the sea or thrown into a bonfire in the center of town. Thankfully the Bog's muddy terrain would prevent the fire from spreading. Hiccup was helping Cami gather any loose arrows at the docks, Toothless, Phantom and the Skyfang on the other side, while the other riders were helping in the village. "So, how mad is your mom," Hiccup asked, "Well, she's glad we drove Ryker away, but not so much that she'd let me off easy. I've got to spend a night in the hoosegow," Cami replied. "That's rough." "Eh, it's okay, I'm gonna bust out once the guards leave," she said with mischief. "Don't you think that'll make the punishment worse," Hiccup pointed out. "Maybe, but you can't keep a Bog Burglar down." Hiccup chuckled at Cami's pride, knowing it'll get her into trouble one day. "I saw you stand up to Ryker before, not bad, for a boy at least," Cami said, genuinely impressed.

Pretty soon, all the arrows were rounded up, and the duo went with their dragons back to the village to burn the wretched weapons. Walking at the same pace as the Skyfang, Hiccup asked the dragon, "So, you said you saved me because I saved me, was it because of what I did on the ship?" "Yes. You were the first human I've met who actually wanted to help me," the soft-spoken dragon said. "How long were you on that ship," Toothless asked. "Two months. Ryker shot me down when I was flying to close to his ship. I tried to fly to a sea stack to hide, but I fell down and got caught. I tried to fight back, but fighting isn't exactly us Skyfangs strong suit. I ended up with this scar and was stuck on that ship since," the dragon said with a heavy heart.

Feeling sorry for the poor dragon, Hiccup offered, "Well, I don't have that many dragons. Just Toothless here and a Terror. And there's a lot of room on Berk, I'm sure they wouldn't mind another dragon living there." The Skyfang didn't respond, Hiccup knew that it would be hard for the dragon to trust people after what it had been through. "I'd like that," the dragon said finally. "Great. Toothless please don't get jealous like you did when Sharpshot joined us," Hiccup said, earning an eye roll from Toothless. "Very funny." "So, what's your name?" "I don't have one, my parents never gave me one. But I've always been fond of something with 'wind' in it." "Okay, so how about Windwalker?" Toothless snickered a bit, "Laugh it all up bud, but it's still better than 'Snotlout." Smiling a bit, the Skyfang said, "I like it." "Alright, welcome to the team Windwalker **(5)**."

"Hey come on, the twins are playing hot potato with Snotlout's helmet, and he is not happy," Cami said grinning widely. "Okay, I've got to see that," Hiccup said, running to see with Toothless and the newly dubbed Windwalker behind him.

* * *

 _Undisclosed Location_

At the Grimborn brothers' base, Ryker informed Viggo of the events that had transpired at the Bog. Holding up a game piece, Viggo said, "So, the Final Rider was there, and you told him about our employer." "I didn't tell him who it is that sent us, just that we were sent to retrieve Loki's Root," Ryker said in his defense. "Our employer won't be happy to hear about this. Bring me a messenger dragon," Viggo said to a guard standing behind his elder brother. "Yes Viggo." The guard left, leaving the Grimborns alone. "You know Ryker, if the Final Rider finds out who sent us and exposes that person to the world, that'll make our job much harder," Viggo said with indifference. "My men and I can handle it." "That's what you said about getting Loki's Root, and here we are now. Sometimes, dear brother, people let their pride and emotions cloud their judgement, and think that they can solve all their problems the same way. You are one of those people, always relying on brute force" Viggo said, Ryker's face not moving a muscle. The guard came back in with a messenger dragon. It was not a Terrible Terror, or a Night Terror. In fact, merely giving any description of the dragon other than its purpose would spoil who the Grimborn's employer was. "Will this do, sir?" Viggo inspected the dragon, he's face not showing any judgement, worrying the guard a bit. "It will do." The guard let out a breath, and Viggo wrote a letter then attached it to the dragon's leg. "Take this to your master," Viggo said as he let the small dragon out. The two brothers watched the dragon fly out of the tent and into the night sky. "What did you write?" Not bothering to look his brother's way, Viggo simply said, "That this game just got interesting."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Thoughts:**

 **I like how this turned out. I felt as if it was a little edgier and that it was able to be serious. It took a lot out of me to write and figure out. Originally I was going to introduce Hiccup's "ornate shield" I this chapter, the opening scene going to show that Hiccup was working on the shield, but it wasn't working all that well. The confrontation with Ryker was different to. He was supposed to knock Cami out of the sky and take her into the forest, where Hiccup would use the shield's crossbow mode until Windwalker saved him. But I decided it would be too long, so I'm saving that for later.**

 **Notes:**

 **1: I think that with how I mentioned the Bog Burglars were Berks allies in a previous chapter, Camicazi making an appearance was bound to happen. I'd say I nailed her personality, and I loved the part when she acknowledged Hiccup. She'll appear later again in a later chapter, I just won't say when. (Insert Troll Face here)**

 **2: Take note of that, it'll have a role to play in the 'B-villain and Dragon Hunter' side arc, along with some other 'Tribal Relics' Fishlegs mentioned.**

 **3: That's actually a last minute throw in gag. I put that in because as I wrote this, I felt like Hiccup was born on Berk, and that maybe he should make a reference from something in the real world. Seriously though, could you imagine the twins seeing "** _ **Thor?**_ **" Five bucks Ruff fangirls over Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.**

 **4: Okay, I seriously should tell you guys the Riders' (sans Hiccup) dragon, because I can never remember who has who.**

 **Astrid: Stormfly, Sneaky (her turquoise Terrible Terror), and Axewing (her orange and red Timberjack). I know I said she had seven Dragon Kyrstals on her axe, but four are decorative, her parents wouldn't let her have more than three dragons.**

 **Fishlegs: Meatlug, Iggy (mentioned him in the first one shot), and Tiny (a green Prickleboggle (SoD model). He's very friendly and always ready to help someone in need, so he can be a handful, and literally at that.) Fishlegs also has another dragon that he doesn't use because, well you'll see.**

 **Ruffnut: Barf, Butt (according to Rise of Berk, she trained Butt), Scauldy, (to help differentiate him from other Scauldrons, let's just assume greyish sea green is his natural color) and Trancemare (the Flightmare mentioned before. Bonded with Ruff over their love of pranks, mischief and Loki.) She has three fake Dragon Krystals on her dagger to 'Loki' people.**

 **Tuffnut: Belch, Head (again, according to Rise of Berk, has green tints to tell him apart from Butt), Torch (since Hiccup never met Torch, Tuffnut was the one who bonded and trained him), and Death Ride (reddish-brown Whispering Death with turquoise accents. Loves destruction, has to constantly remind Tuff he has terrible eye sight.) Much like his sister, he has fake Dragon Krystals on his dagger.**

 **Snotlout: Hookfang and Pain, his attitude prevents him from properly bonding with dragons, he may get more at some point.**

 **5: First Cami, now Windwalker, I am just full of surprises aren't I. This time I stayed closer to the books, but made micro changes, like the whole cocoon thing during the shortwing stage instead of age 17. Also, in the books, Hiccup's Windwalker was always referred to as "the Windwalker," instead of a proper name. So, I made Windwalker his name, while here he is a Skyfang, the name came from where as in the books, Windwalkers are Sky Dragons, and fang gave it a nice ring. If you noticed, Windwalker is supposed to be an opposite to Toothless; Toothless is built for powerful speed attacks, stealth during the night, and is brave and confident, whereas Windwalker is built for graceful maneuvers, daytime stealth, and very shy and sheltered due to the trauma with the Hunters.**

 **Announcements:**

 **Expect another one shot up soon. And the whole "O/C hint" is about the black-and-white fairy: Inspired by the muses of Greek Mythology, in Pokemon this is a gen 5 mythical.**

 **Concluding Statements:**

 **Once again, so sorry for the delay. I'll try to keep updates on schedule (two weeks apart) and hopefully next time I get writers block, it won't be a whole month.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was poster March 5, 2016.**


	8. Chapter 6 (Fish out of Water)

**Author's Note: Welcome, one and all! Let me just say, it is great to be back to normal with the updates, it feels like forever since the last time I posted a second update per month. I've only got two things to say, 1) Expect a bunch more book-verse dragons and 2) Hope you like Fish, because he's getting the focus this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: O/C's and the idea to right this, mine. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. ("Must I say this every time?" GUYS IN A WHITE SHIRT WITH "DIRECTOR" WRITTEN IN BOLD LETTERING "Yes.")**

* * *

 _Chapter 6: A Fish out of Water_

It was the beginning of a quiet evening on Berk, the villagers returning to their houses for rest. Within their respective homes, the riders were all sleeping peacefully, each enjoying a good night's rest; except for Fishlegs. Inside the Ingerman household, Fishlegs was tossing and turning in his bed like a fish flopping around on land. From beside the boy's bed, his three dragons watched him with deep concern. Why he didn't keep his dragons in their Krystal forms when he goes to sleep you ask? He doesn't like sleeping without knowing his 'precious dragons' were safe and sound.

"What do you think he's dreaming about," Tiny asked. The small Prickleboggle leaped off of the nightstand and on to the pillow right next to Fishlegs' face. The dragon moved in for a closer look, only for Iggy to grab his tail and pull him back, right before the boys hands slammed in to the bed. "Thanks." "I don't like this, something's going on in his head," Iggy said with worry. Unknown to the trio of dragons, the thought jumping around his head were worse than they thought.

* * *

 _Fishlegs was running. He didn't know why or how he ended up running, but he was. He ran across a rocky terrain, his feet thumping against the gravel with every step. Each time he looked over his shoulder he saw what he was running from, which only made him want to run faster. The key word 'want' because when you're as 'large' as him, it kind of makes it hard to fun fast._

 _Pretty soon he ran out of room to run, and he was caught at the edge of the cliff. One slip up and he'd take a one way trip into the black sea that was meters below. Then the creature that hunted him cornered him, the scared teen caught in the shadow of its three heads. "Fishlegs," the central head whispered, "Why haven't you fulfilled your promise?" "I-I-I, I just haven't had the time to do it," the boy whimpered. "But you've had almost five years," said the head to the left, "plenty of time." Fishlegs was at a loss for words. This creature had been following him for years, so he didn't have much of an excuse, and he couldn't reason with a beast like this._

" _We cannot wait any longer," the head on the right said with anger. The force of his voice caused Fishlegs to move back, only to nearly step over the edge. "I concur." "I am with them," The other two heads said. "Fulfill the Ingermans' promise, or else we will have to take drastic measure," the heads said in sync as they moved closer. Fishlegs made the mistake of trying to move back, and slipped off of the edge. As he plummeted down, he saw the eyes of each head for a brief second, the dragon's reptilian eyes slitted so thin that it felt less of a dragon, and more of a force for destruction. Just before he hit the water, a thunderous FART sound rang out, destroying the dream's atmosphere._

* * *

Seeing how bad Fishlegs was getting, Meatlug had no choice but to wake him up the only way she knew how; fart on his face. Fishlegs woke with a fright, taking in deep breathes, before seeing his trio of reptilian friends and calming down, "Thanks girl, I really needed that." "What? No love for the other two," Tiny said, pretending to be offended. "You guys two," Fishlegs said, knowing his small dragon didn't like to be left out.

"What happened?" "I had a dream about, 'them'." The three dragons gasped, Fishlegs hadn't dreamed about 'them' in months. "Makes sense." "Iggy," Meatlug snapped at the Terror. "What? I'm just saying that the time of the Ingerman promise has almost passed, if you don't, well, you know, then who knows what might happen." "I don't know guys. I just, I want to do what my ancestor promised, but that dragon, I don't know what it'll do," Fishlegs said, fear staining his words. Sighing, he held his head down, praying to every one of the Viking gods he knew that someone would give him the solution to his problem.

Meatlug instinctively started liking Fishlegs' face, but her attempts did not cheer him up. "I don't get it, why is it keeping this whole family promise thing is something you're afraid of," Tiny asked. The miniscule dragon had been trained by Fishlegs very recently, and even though he was caught up on most of the boy's life, he still had a hard time figuring out some of his actions. "Well Tiny, 'them' are very destructive," as she spoke, Fishlegs heard something going on outside, "and because of Fishlegs' heritage, he doesn't want to run the risk of going-" "Hey girl, could you be quiet for a second." The dragon obeyed her rider's request, and ceased talking. Fishlegs got out of bed, and walked out of his room, towards the front door. "Well, afraid of going what," Tiny said, wanting to know what the Gronckle was about to say, only to be shushed by Iggy.

Fishlegs opened the door to his house, and saw that the village was going crazy. Wild Smothering Smokebreath dragons were wall over the place, causing havoc and disorder. All over they were grabbing any scrap of metal they could find, so it was safe to assume Gobber's forge was the center of the assault. Every villager he could see was either fighting a Smokebreath over anything metal, or running around carrying metal objects with Smokebreaths chasing after them, smoke coming out of their mouths, which, combined with their skull shaped face, could potentially give small children nightmares.

"Alright, get out a' here," came Gobber's voice. Fishlegs turned towards the blacksmith's forge, and no surprise the place was crawling with Smokebreaths. A loud BOOM came from the place, along with a bright light, and the Smokebreaths scattered, most carrying some kind of weapon. When the smoke cleared, Gobber's face was covered in ash, and you could see Grump drooling molten rock with his eyes half open. Gobber coughed up a puff of smoked, and said, "Tha' ought ta' do it." Unfortunately for him, the Smokebreaths came back, only now there was twice as many. Gobber ran back into the forge, screaming, "Get out a' here," and "Stay away from that."

Deciding to help, well Tiny decided for him, Fishlegs ran to the forge. "Are you okay," he asked the overwhelmed Gobber. "Does it look like I'm okay?" Fishlegs blushed with embarrassment a little for asking such a dumb question. "When did they show up?" "Ugh, about five minute ago, it was only a few but then a whole lot a' the little buggers started ta' show up and then-" Gobber never got to finish that sentence because a Smokebreath grabbed a hold of his hook hand and flew off with it. "Hey! Give that back. Grump, stop him," he said to no avail. Fortunately, Iggy had flew a collision path into the Smokebreath, forcing it to drop the hook, which Meatlug retrieved once it landed. "Thank you Meatlug," Gobber said, reaching out for the hook in the Gronckle's mouth, but instead ended up having to grab a hold of his arm in a small pain.

"You okay?" Gobber gave him an "are ya' seriously asking tha' again" glare, to which he responded, "Never mind, knew that was wrong the moment I said it. Tiny, could you help him out." The small Prickleboggle flapped his wings and hovered next to the spot Gobber was holding. The old blacksmith moved his only remaining hand, and revealed a small burn he received from the fire blast Grump gave moments before. At once, Tiny fired a small purple substance, which is recorded to have healing properties, onto the injury. "Alright then, now if we can deal with them," Gobber said, pointing at the rest of the villagers wrestling over the metal with the Smokebreaths.

Amongst the chaos, the other teens were trying to drive off the invading fog breathers. Hiccup, Toothless, and Windwalker were over by the great hall, Astrid and Stormfly handled the docks, while Snotlout and Hookfang were in the air. The twins, being the twins, just sat atop their roof, watching the havoc around town. "I really need to get one of those Smokebreaths. I hear they make great house pets," Tuffnut said. Behind him, the Chicken gave him what might be a jealous look, "I know you're back there, I can hear your feathers ruffling," he said, still looking forward. "Are you guys gonna help out or are you going to just sit there and watch," Astrid called out from below. The duo looked at each other and Tuff replied, "Is this a trick question?"

Then, after having enough of the disorder, the loud, earsplitting cry of Stoick the Vast came out in a thundering, " **ENOUGH**!" Every man, woman and dragon froze, and turned to face the, keep in mind almost seven-feet tall, and angry chief. "Whoever's in charge of the Smokebreaths, make yourself known," Stoick demanded. Within a matter of moments, a gray Smothering Smokebreath, with a few brown stripes and some purple around the wing edges, was in front of him. **(1)** "Pardon us, o great chieftain," the Smokebreath said in a polite tone of voice, and oddly enough, a British accent "but we, the Smokebreaths of Breakneck Bog, do not mean you or your people any harm." "Then why is it you decided to start stealing any piece of metal on the island that you could get your hands on," Stoick questioned, not exactly sounding thrilled to have the small Mystery class dragon here.

"Ah yes, well, you see recently a group of rather undesirable dragons have arrived at our home and have completely taken over Breakneck Bog. Naturally we tried to frighten them off, but when push came to shove, we decided it was best to, 'relocate' until they leave," the Smokebreath explained. "So you decided here was the best place to 'relocate'?" "Precisely, seeing as how many in the dragon community view this island as short of a "Golden Land" per say, you know, for being the home of the man that sealed away that dastardly Bludvist fellow all those centuries ago. But, if you don't want us to stay, I guess we could just go back to our home, you know, the one infested with dangerous dragons?" Stoick stayed silent, considering whether or not he should allow the dragons to stay, "If you promise not to steal any more metal, then I'll send someone to help you." "Oh thank you, and I promise that until those dragons are removed, we won't steal any metal from this village, dragons honor."

* * *

Later in the Great Hall, the teens stood before the council, because they were chosen to go solve the problem at Breakneck Bog, much to the dismay of both Snotlout and Fishlegs. "You can't be serious about letting 'Mr. Runs-Away-From-Everything,' come with us," Snotlout complained. "He may be right!" "Aw, what's the matter 'Guppylegs', you afraid of the Breakneck Curse," the twins teased. "Leave him alone guys, this really isn't the time," Astrid said in the boy's defense. "What, all we're saying is that this mission requires the bravest of Vikings, and Hiccup," Snotlout said, Hiccup and Toothless giving an exasperated eye roll, "And Fishlegs isn't brave enough to go." "Snotlout that's enough," Stoick said, with his ''discussion over' voice.

"Actually Stoick," Baggybum began, Spitelout rolling his eyes, "maybe it would be best to leave the boy here, especially with" he paused, "the CURSE." Fishlegs jump-scared a little, and shrieked like a little girl. "The curse? What is that," Hiccup asked. "Ah, it's just old legend," Old Wrinkly began, "They that in ages past, Breakneck Bog used to be home to pirates from all over the Archipelago," he said as the twins mocked his speech, at least until Gothi whacked them and gave Ruffnut a 'I excepted more from you young lady' glare. "The legend states that the captain, on his deathbed, cursed the island. Of course, now a days, most people believe it just a rumor about Smothering Smokebreaths, but some still believe it is true," the old man explained.

"Oh please, there is no such thing as curses," Spitelout said. "I can think of at least a dozen horror movies were that was said and someone died," Toothless said. "What's a horror movie," Tuffnut asked. "That's not the point, and why is it that in a world of talking dragons turning into Krystals and stuff like magic spells and a center of the world were time does not exist, curses are what you don't believe in it," Hiccup pointed out "A'll tell ya' wha' he's got a point," Gobber pointed out. An awkward silence lasted a couple moments, before Fishlegs asked, "So do I have to-" "Yes you have to go," Stoick said.

Fishlegs gave a nervous, "Yay," to which Ruffnut put her hand on his shoulder in support. "It's okay Fishlegs, maybe when the curse doesn't get us, the vicious dragons will eat Tuffnut first," she said, not making him feel better. "Yeah, wait what?" "Look Fishlegs, I know that you aren't exactly the most courageous Viking out there," Stoick said, Snotlout giving a snide, "Ya think," under his breath, to which Astrid responded by giving a harsh stomp on his foot, "But you know the most about dragons, and that may come in handy with the ones on Breakneck Bog." Fishlegs reluctantly agreed, and the teens (and Toothless), traveled to the home of the Smothering Smokebreaths, Breakneck Bog.

* * *

 _Breakneck Bog_

After a few hours, the group had a good view of Breakneck Bog. It was a small island part of a group of islands that resembled a human hand in a sort of claw shape, being the thumb. A mountain peak stood at the end, with a smaller hill towards the other side. Despite the name, the island wasn't a bog, but more of a dense forest.

When the dragons (Hiccup flies on Windwalker when traveling between islands now) were just a few minutes away from the isle, they stopped, and hovered in the air. "What's wrong girl," Astrid asked Stormfly. "Hookfang, what's wrong with you," Snotlout practically demanded to know, and Hookfang slapped him with his tail. "We sense something-" "Strange on the island," Barf and Belch stated. Fishlegs started to panic and said, "It's the curse of Breakneck Bog." "Curse," Windwalker practically shouted. "No, not a curse, just something odd. Like a weird sensation," Meatlug said. Hiccup, who was now wondering what the curse's exact details asked, "Ah, Fishlegs, what exactly does the curse do?" "According to the stories, those who go to Breakneck Bog never return." "Oh, so it's like the Bermuda Triangle," Toothless said with 'so much enthusiasm'. "'The Bermuda Triangle', what's that, like a rock or something," Tuffnut said, being his usual not-getting-the-point self. "No, it's an area of ocean, and when ships sail into it, they never return," Hiccup explained. Fishlegs gulped heavily, and did it again when Hiccup said, "Weird feeling or not, we have to go," and the dragons started to fly towards the island again.

When the group arrived, they returned their dragons to the Stables, and Fishlegs grabbed a map that explained the island in greater detail. At the center of the island, was a site marked "Smokebreath Nest", and between that and the beach they were on, was a set of trees labeled 'The Woods that Howled.' "Looks like we have to go through those woods in order to find the dragons the Smokebreath was talking about," Tuff said, being captain obvious, to which Ruff said "Duh," and knocked on his helmet, and then they ended up in a fight. After about thirty seconds, Astrid had to break them up. "Hey could you knock it off guys," Hiccup said, trying to study the map. "Fine," the two Thorstons got up, "But she started it," Tuff said, to which Ruff said "I did not, you did." "Do you have any proof?" "No, but you were the one who started it!" "Well, your hair smells weird." "What are you doing smelling my hair, chicken boy?!" "How dare you insult the Chicken!" "Stop this nonsense or I am clawing both your eyes out," Toothless eventually shouted.

By then, Fishlegs and Hiccup had studied the map enough that they could put it away. As Fishlegs was putting it in his satchel, he noticed something. "That's strange, I don't remember putting this in here," he said aloud. "What, your diary," Snotlout quipped, earning him a kick in the shins from Astrid. "OW! I mean, whatever that didn't hurt," he said, lying through his teeth. He was sort of right, inside Fishlegs' satchel was a book, but it wasn't a diary, it was the Book of Dragons. "Are you sure you didn't pack it," Astrid asked. "Yes. I left it on my desk back home. Why would it be in my bag?" After taking the Book of Dragons out of his bag, he noticed that one of the pages was glowing. Fishlegs carefully opening it to the glowing page, the others gathering around, the group found that the page hand another message. _"To stop the trio of terror, the Ingerman promise must be fulfilled to the temperament trio with a single tear,"_ It read.

While the others were confused, Fishlegs notably began to sweat. In order to help the Smokebreaths, he had to keep the family promise to 'them'. "Fishlegs, what is the Ingerman promise," Astrid asked. "How should I know, I've never heard of it," he said in a quick voice. "Besides, the Book of Dragons is never this straightforward, so maybe it means something else." "No, it's defiantly being clear on this one," Tuff said. "Agreed, dear brother." "Look how 'bout we just go get rid of some dragons," Fishlegs said, before hurrying towards the woods. "Well are you guys coming or what?" The group was speechless at their friend's behavior. "He actually wants to run towards danger," Astrid said, confused at his actions. "The Ingerman promise must be worse if he actually wants to do that," Hiccup said, with Toothless nodding in agreement. "Maybe it's something so bad it could cause massive destruction." "Which is weird, because why would you want to hide a weapon of mass destruction?" "Well, for one thing, you two. And the second thing is that he's just being Fishlegs, typical, wimpy Fishlegs," Snotlout said.

"What does that mean, Snotlout," Hiccup pointed out. "All I'm saying is that when it comes down to it, there are two kinds of people, there are readers, and there are doers. And while Fishlegs is sitting on the sidelines during a fight, I'm risking my life, taking butt and kickin' names" Snotlout said arrogantly. "I think you mean that the other way," Astrid corrected. "Don't worry Snotlout, we just can't all be you," Toothless said, "brainless, annoying, nauseating and overall, a terrible person." "Why you little-" "Alright, let's just go and get rid of these dragons," Hiccup said. Toothless and Snotlout gave each other a spite filled glared, but agreed to ignore each other. With all their distractions settled, the group set off behind Fishlegs. Unaware that they were being watched.

* * *

As the group walked through The Woods that Howled, the atmosphere around them become increasingly creepy. The night was moonless, nothing to light the way in the thick wilderness. The winds swept across the forest, sounding like the howl of a wolf pack on the hunt, the barren branches swaying in the gusts.

Fishlegs was thoroughly scared, and tried to keep up with the others as they walked, although that had its disadvantages as well. They keep asking him about the promise the Book of Dragons mentioned before, to which he quickly tried to change the subject. As much as he wanted to help the Smokebreaths and leave the island, he wasn't so sure of fulfilling his family's promise to 'them'. Everything about 'them' both scared him and fascinated him. Seriously, a dragon like that, so rare and powerful, yet as emotional as nature itself, one moment it was as calm as gentle breeze, the next it was raging like a hurricane.

When they were about halfway between the beach they arrived at and the nest, the riders found themselves at a sort of crossroad, where the path split into three. "We'll have to split up," Hiccup said. "Astrid, you and the twins take the middle path, Snotlout and I'll take the path on the right, Fishlegs, you've got the one on the left." "Um, if you're going with Snotlout, and Astrid's with the twins, who does that leave me with," Fishlegs asked nervously. Snotlout rolled his eyes, not understanding that Fishlegs was right to ask for someone to go with him. With a group of wild dragons, and from what they were characterized as, the one traveling alone would be the easiest target.

"I volunteer," Toothless said, hoping onto Fish's shoulder. "That doesn't exactly make me feel better." "Hey," Toothless said, taking offense to the boy's statement. "Need I remind you I'm a Night Fury, which is one of the most powerful dragons in the known world?" "Yes, but only when Hiccup uses the Dragon Blade on you, and he doesn't know how to make it permanent," Fishlegs said. "Who says I don't know how to make it permanent," Hiccup said. The others gave him disbelieving looks, "Okay fine I don't know how to make Toothless a dragon at all times." With that, they each went down their assigned path, Fishlegs hoping the dragons on the island weren't on the hunt for food, especially big game prey.

From behind a bush, the same eyes that were watching them on the beach saw them split. With the young Vikings separate from one another, picking them off one by one would be easy.

* * *

"Please?" "No." "Please" "NO!" "Please?!" "No Tuff, I will not convince Stoick to let you keep a Smokebreath as a pet," Astrid shouted. "Yeah bro, besides, why do you want one, you already have a pet," Ruff asked. Tuff paused for a moment, and then said, "Eh, I could take it or leave it."

Astrid rolled her eyes, _still better than Snotlout_ , she said to herself. As she walked, trying to tune out the sound of the twins' bickering, she couldn't help but wonder exactly what kind of dragons they were up against. After all, with dozens of dragon species, some larger than others, the chances of finding a large, aggressive, territorial dragon were high. She stopped walking for a moment, and heard nothing. She turned around, and saw that the twins disappeared. "Ruff?! Tuff," she called out, but no response was given. "Seriously you two, this isn't funny, you better come out right now or I'm getting my axe." Despite her best attempts, she could not find Ruffnut or Tuffnut, nor did she notice the winged shadow behind her.

The shadow growled softly, alerting Astrid to its presence. She turned around, and gasped when she saw…

* * *

At the same time, Hiccup and Snotlout walked through the woods, the dead leaves crumbling against the weight of their feet. Hiccup, despite his best attempts, couldn't find a way to get the other boy to end the conversation. "Seriously, can you believe that everyone thinks I'm just an incredibly talented, good looking guy?" "No, Snotlout, not at all," Hiccup said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I know right, they all think that I can't come up with any good ideas either. Like this one time, I sold everyone these special 'Stones of Good Fortune', I got a dozen chickens, half a dozen axes, and three yaks with just the first one. Of course, I had to give it all back after it turned out the stones were Changewing eggs."

"Wait a minute, you sold a bunch of dragon eggs to people in a 'get-rich-quick-scheme'?" "Yeah, and when I didn't want to give anything back, the chief made me bathe dragons for like a month, who would do that?" Hiccup didn't bother answering that last one. "And then there is my latest idea, something so genius that it may very well be the greatest idea since the invention of fire," Snotlout exclaimed. "What could it possibly be?" "Charging people for water." "What?" "It's simple supply and demand, there is a tough drought, and the people of Berk are parched, desperate for fresh water. And who's got all the water? That's right, Snotlout" he explained. "So, you want to charge people for water," Hiccup summarized. "Yeah. Astrid said it was 'the dumbest thing she's ever heard', but I say it is a great business strategy. "Yeah, back home on Earth, we actually do charge people for water, and even then she's right. **(2)** " "What!? They stole my idea," Snotlout exclaimed furiously.

Just then, Hiccup heard a strange rustling and froze, "Shush," he told Snotlout. "I will not stop, don't you Earth people know stealing another person's idea is-" "No I mean 'shush' as in we're being followed," Hiccup said, drawing the Dragon Blade as he slowly moved forward. "Oh. Why didn't you just say that," Snotlout said as he grabbed his hammer. The two looked at all angles, waiting for something to attack, but when it didn't come, they put down their weapons.

Which was just what the dragon stalking them wanted.

* * *

Fishlegs and Toothless were doing just fine on the other hand. No wild dragons had attacked them, and apart from Fishlegs' ramblings about the supposed 'Breakneck Curse', nothing bad happened. That is, until the sound of two dragon roars rang out, frightening the poor boy even more. "Calm down, it was probably just Stormfly or Hookfang," Toothless tried to reassure. "No, not, that was definitely _not_ a Deadly Nadder or Monstrous Nightmare cry," Fishlegs said disapprovingly. "Well, then what was it?" "I don't know, but it was definitely a highly aggressive dragon," he said, trying to get the words out. "I suggest that we," he paused, "Run away and leave!" He tried to turn around and run, but Toothless' cat legs were too quick for him.

"Fishlegs, we promised to help the Smokebreaths, and that's what we're gonna due," Toothless declared. "But what about the Curse?" "Well, it's either get rid of a bunch of dangerous dragons on a supposedly cursed island, or I'll let you leave." "Really," Fishlegs said, disbelieving that the cat would really let him leave. "If, you tell me what the Ingerman promise is." "Well what are doing arguing at a time like this, we got dragons to help," Fishlegs said quickly, and turned back to the path ahead. Smirking, Toothless went back to the path as well, standing behind Fishlegs just in case the boy decided to run again.

After a while, they were almost to the nest, when Toothless said, "So, I guess the others were right." Fishlegs was confused by what he meant, and asked if he could be clearer. "I mean, that you fear the Ingerman promise more than this whole 'cursed island' thing." "They caught up on that," he asked sheepishly. "Yup," Toothless said, popping the 'p'. "But what I can't figure out is why." Fishlegs tightened his lips, trying to prevent a sound from coming out. Toothless, remembering what happened on Dragon Island when he pushed Hiccup too far trying to find out why he was acting weird, decided to leave the matter alone for now.

With that whole conversation left in the dust, the two found the Smokebreath Nest, well, were it should be. It was a fairly tall, rocky area, similar to The Cove on Berk. In one of the walls was a large square gap, and just underneath the arch, was a pile of melted and fused together axes, swords and shields. But the most notable thing in the area, was the other teens all tied up and caught in a cage.

Seeing his friends (and Snotlout) caught, Fishlegs ran towards the cage. "What happened," he asked when he reached them, Toothless following. "We got ambushed by a dragon, they were like shadow in wind, fast and silent," Tuffnut answered, before adding, "It was kinda cool actually." "What dragons were they, exactly," Fishlegs asked, shaking in his tracks. "We were attacked by an armored Skrill," Snotlout explained, "I almost had it." "Really, because as far as I'm concerned, you fell first," Hiccup said truthfully. "Yeah, well as far as I'm concerned, you-," Snotlout said, before he realized he hadn't come up with anything in his defense, so he settled with "shut up Hiccup." "Anyway, it knocked us all out, and when we woke up, we were all caught in this cage without our Dragon Krystals and weapons," Astrid finished.

Fishlegs was having a tough time figuring this out, why would _wild_ , untrained dragons have a cage handy on their island, and what was with the armor. "Okay let's think, why would that Skrill have armor," he said aloud, before he realized what he was up against. "The only dragons we know of with armor, are the ones in-" "Drago's army," Toothless said, his cat ears perking up when he heard a bunch of footsteps from behind. "And the only person we know that has a Skrill and works for Drago is-" "Look at that, 'Fishguts' over there really is the smart one in their little group," came a voice that Fishlegs would know anywhere, the same voice that looked him up in a cage for three days with no food or water, and when he did get to eat, it was rotten cod heads forcefully down his throat, the ex-heir of the Berserker tribe, Dagur the 'appropriately titled' Deranged.

Turning around, he got a good look of Dagur standing next to his Skrill, smugging victoriously. The Skrill snarling at Toothless, who growled back with equal ferocity, despite not having the advantage if a battle broke out. On the other side of the Skrill, Norbert was looking as smug as Dagur. In his hand, was a brown bag, which probably had the other's Dragon Krystals. "Here we are, just about to go looking for you, but here the two of you are coming to us instead," Dagur said with sadistic glee. "Looks like the old saying is true, good things come to those who are patient," Norbert said just as smug.

Fishlegs attempted to move backwards, before realizing that the cage was right behind him. In his mind, he flashbacked to the dream he had before, the three who stood before him turning into the three headed beast that chased after him, and started to hyperventilate. Dagur, who took pleasure in the boys suffering took a step forward, prompting Toothless to say, "Back off, or did you forget what happened the first time you threatened someone around me." "He's got a point, that was pretty embarrassing," Norbert said, remembering the shrieks of pain Dagur gave when Toothless first clawed his face. "You want a sword to the gut," Dagur threatened Norbert, who stop talking, but mouthed a chuckle when the psychotic teen turned his back.

"Well that was then, and this is now, and this time-" Dagur started, before his Skrill cut him up, "I'm winning this time." "Excuse me, but who's in charge here," Dagur asked in a serious tone, "Because if you've got a problem, I'm sure Drago would be more than happy to straighten you out," he threatened. The Skrill growled back, not impressed by the Berserker's threat. Norbert rolled his eyes, tired of the constant bickering between his partner in crime and his dragon. He grabbed his axe, the golden half of the blade looking a dull shade in the darkness of the night, and the black half blending in almost perfectly. "Well, if you want something right, you have to do it yourself," Norbert groaned, before pointing his axe at Fishlegs and Toothless, and the axe shot a fireball at them. The two dropped to their knees, and the orb of flame hit the cage, the riders inside stepping back to avoid getting hit.

"Seriously, you modified your axe to spit fire," Toothless said disbelievingly, "how on Earth did you do that?" "Uh, hello, evil genius here," Norbert said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, can't argue with logic like that," Tuff stated. Norbert continued to fire at the two outside the cage, Toothless was able to dodge fine, Fishlegs on the other hand, wasn't. Long story short, Fishlegs became so exhausted he eventually fell on his face, his Dragon Krystals falling out of his pockets. He reached out his hand to grab them, but Dagur got to them first. He studied the small stones carefully, and asked "Only three, you couldn't have got any more dragons Fish-eggs?" "It won't matter," Norbert said, still trying to wear Toothless down with fireballs, "We've still got the ones in here," he said, motioning his head to the bag at his waist. He pointed his axe at Toothless again, only for a single spark to sputter out.

"Well this is the prototype," he said completely embarrassed. "Great, now can I fight the Night Fury," the Skrill said, itching to fight Toothless. "No" Dagur replied, earning him an infuriated glare from his dragon, "Lock 'em up." Norbert picked up the weakened Fishlegs walked over to the cage, Dagur staring down Toothless to prevent him from trying to help. "I just have one thing to ask," Toothless began, "What are you after that you had to drive away the Smokebreaths?" "'Drive away', when we showed up, no dragon was on this island," Norbert answered. "But what about the dragons they mentioned," the still caged Astrid asked. "Yeah, I was promised a bunch of potentially dangerous dragons, and so far it feels like a rip-off," Tuff complained. " **WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS TALKING ABOUT** ," Dagur shouted.

Suddenly, a roar as loud as Dagur's shout came out from the Smokebreath cave. All turned towards the entrance, including Norbert just as he was about to grab the key to the cage. Loud, heavy footsteps where heard as an angry, growling dragon came out of the cave and exposed itself to the set of enemies. Its build was quite lion like, with four strong legs, each with three claws a piece and some spikes on the back. Its wings were bat like, similar to a Night Fury's, with small wing like 'ears'. The features on its head were the most prominent, a bunch of spikes on the side, a large horn jutting out from its forehead, and two large dagger like canines in its mouth. Its scales were bleach white, making it stand out in the dark of night **(3)**. The dragon merely looked at them all before roar, "I HATE HUMANS", and blasting fire in all directions.

One of them went directly at Norbert, who promptly dropped Fishlegs and ducted for cover. Dagur throw Toothless to the side, and ordered his Skrill to "BLAST IT" with 'it' being the dragon. The Skrill turned to face the opposing dragon, only for another one to fly out of the cave and pin him. This new dragon had dark scales, black with shades of purple. Its physiology was similar to a Night Fury's, but with a second 'finger' on both wings. Two antennae like structures stuck up on its head, with a small beard on its chin and a row of purple spines on its back, the dragon seemed to be like a poisonous plant **(4)**. It snarled real close to the Skrill's face, purple venom dripping from its teeth, saying that it had the upper hand. Seeing his dragon **(cough *weapon* cough)** losing, Dagur charged at the dragon, only for a third to come and gasp the sword in its sparkling silver teeth.

This one was perhaps the most interesting. It had no wings, a large scythe like claw on each of its front paws, and its eyes seemed to be closed permanently. Its back was covered with silver spikes that ran from snout to tail, some black one on its legs and under its jaw as well. Its underside was a simple violet, while the rest of its scales where a darker shade, with some silvery black ones on its shoulders and sides **(5)**. It ripped the sword out of Dagur's hands, and flung it out to the horizon. The now weaponless Dagur laughed nervously, and the dragon roared right in his face, its breathe reeking worse than rotten salmon, toe fungus and whatever they served for dinner in the Great Hall last night mixed together with a douse of Astrid's Yak-nog **(WARNING: DO NOT DRINK IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE)**. Dagur and Norbert, who was just roared at by the bleach white dragon, ended up back to back, while the second dragon gave a powerful bite to the Skrill's neck, shielded by the armor on it, but the force was so strong that he turned back into his Krystal form.

While all this was going on, Toothless walked over to Fishlegs and attempted to get the boy off the ground, the key word being attempted as the boy's weight was too much for the simple housecat to lift. "Well while I've got our attention, exactly what type of dragons are they?" Fishlegs then proceeded to inform Toothless about the dragons that presumably were the ones that drove the Smokebreaths out. The first was a Sabretooth Driver, a Sharp class known for its, well sabre teeth, along with being able to go without the few extra hours of sleep during winter (don't ask, it's a dragon thing.) The second was a Toxic Nightshade, a Mystery Class rumored to be a mutated nightshade plant instead of an actual dragon. Incredibly lethal poison, and for some reason hates the color yellow. But when the last one showed up, Fishlegs was so scared that he got up on his own, muttering "Oh great." "I take it by your 'oh great' that we're in trouble," Toothless assumed. "Skullion, Tracker Class, blind, deaf, can't fly able to rip prey apart with its large claws," Fishlegs squeaked.

He started to slowly walk back into the forest, before Toothless said "What are you doing, the keys are right there, gesturing to the keys lying a few feet before the cage. The boy looked back to the woods, before slowly walking over to the keys. Just as he was about to grab the keys, he heard a deep exhale come from the side. Daring to look, he saw the Skullion a few feet away, taking deep breathes and growling at him. At that moment, Fishlegs froze up and released he had two choices; stay and risk saving his friends from two crazy Dragon Trappers and three dragons, one with teeth, one with venom, and one with a razor sharp serrated claw, or run for his life and abandon his friends.

He choose the second option and screamed like a little girl running into the forest, the others calling him to get back, Toothless running after him. The Sabretooth run behind the two, following the boy and cat, looking to do Odin knows what.

* * *

Fishlegs and Toothless ran through the woods, pushing branches out of the way and crushing twigs in their wake. The Sabretooth ran close behind, snarling and roaring aggressively. Fishlegs eventually got his foot caught on a tree root and tripped. Toothless stopped and tried to help him up again as the Sabretooth caught up. The dragon growled triumphantly, Toothless standing in between it and Fishlegs ready to protect his friend from the dragon, and without Hiccup to turn him into a dragon, it looked like this was the end for Fishlegs. The Sabretooth pounced, claws ready to strike the two, only for it to overshoot the targets and end up with its long horn caught in the tree. It pushed its claws against the trunk of the tree, but the horn was stuck in tight. Seeing the opportunity to escape, Fishlegs and Toothless fled deeper into the woods.

Soon they ended up back at the beach they arrived at, and Fishlegs would have ran straight into the ocean if Toothless hadn't stopped him by reminding him neither of them could swim. "Okay," Toothless said as he caught his breath, "We need a new plan if we're going to save the others." "Save the others are you crazy? We can't take on those dragons by ourselves," Fishlegs said with exhaustion, and added "We need to go home and get help." "How are we going to get home if we can't fly or swim," Toothless pointed out. "Tunnel?" "I turn into a Night Fury, not a Whispering Death." "Teleport?" "I'm not magic." "Jump from sea stack to sea stack?" "Okay now you're making stuff up! There has to be some way to beat those, _three_ dragons," Toothless said, a realization coming to him.

Fishlegs was confused by what Toothless was realizing, and asked "What does three of them have to do with anything beside the fact that they out number us?" "There are _three_ dragons we're facing, a _trio of terror_ ," he said, quoting the Book of Dragons at the end. At that point, Fishlegs realized what Toothless was talking about. "Don't you get it, this is what the book was saying, you need to do, whatever the Ingerman promise is to save everyone from those dragons," Toothless concluded, "What is it?" Normally, a normal person would have stayed calm and explained everything, but instead Fishlegs began to freak out and say things so fast that nothing could be understood. "Idon'twanttodoityoucan'tmakemetheIngermanpromiseissomethingyoucan'tmesswith. (I don't want to, you can't make me, the Ingerman promise is something you can't mess with.)

Seeing Fishlegs act like this, all freaked out and so afraid, Toothless saw no other choice. He jumped on to the boy's shoulder as he continued to say things so fast that only dolphins could hear him, and gave him a good smack. "Did you just slap me?!" "Yes, and be grateful I had my claws trimmed," Toothless said with such force that Fishlegs backed up a little. "Fishlegs! What is the Ingerman promise, and why are you so afraid of it," he finally shouted. Fishlegs' lip quivered a bit, before he finally said, "Because I know they'll be angry and I'll go berserk." The boy fell to his knees and exhaled deeply, having finally told someone of the burden that the Ingerman promise was. "I'm sorry, 'they'? Whose 'they', and why would you go berserk," Toothless asked, not understanding what Fishlegs meant by all that.

Looking at Toothless, Fishlegs asked, "Can you keep a secret?" "I'm a talking cat that turns into a dragon, my role is either confidant, provider of awesome moments, or funny ones," Toothless replied, seemingly aware of his role in the story, "That means yes." Readjusting himself so that he was sitting, Fishlegs told Toothless the truth about the Ingerman promise.

"As you know, one of my ancestors was half Berserker," he began. "Yeah, looking back, the author shouldn't have told us that because then this could have been a shocking moment." **"Hey, I didn't think of that detail when I wrote it T, cut me some slack,** " the disembodied voice of the author said from nowhere, Fishlegs just looking confused by the fourth wall break. "Anyway," he said, trying to ignore what just happened, "Three hundred years ago, he had a dragon, a Deadly Shadow. It was a very powerful dragon, it could shoot bursts of electrical fire, make itself practically invisible, and some venom too." "Should like a powerhouse," Toothless said, both impressed and wondering how a dragon could have that many powers and abilities at once. "Yeah," Fishlegs said with a light chuckle, "They fought with Hiccup the First against Drago, and it was said that they could wipe out a whole fleet all by themselves." Fishlegs' expression turned from enthusiastic and excitement to one of concern and worry.

"Of course, he did have a tendency to go, berserk, for a lack of a better word." "Oh come on, he couldn't have been that bad," Toothless said, not entirely believing the 'berserk' part. "He got so worked up in a battle that he had no control of his actions, and in one case he led an entire platoon of dragon riders to their demise," he said without looking at the shocked Toothless, who was now starting to believe Fishlegs a little more. "What happened to him?" "After the war, my ancestor traveled the Archipelago for years, visiting islands and discovering dragons and who knows what else," Fishlegs replied, his expression turning back into one of wonder for a moment before turning into one of sadness. "He eventually died a few years after returning to Berk, and his dragon disappeared. No one knew what happened to it, it just vanished." "But you know what really happened, don't you," Toothless said, seemingly understanding what Fishlegs was going to say.

"The dragon that he had, the same one that fought alongside him, could live for centuries, far longer than any known dragon," he started, before Toothless finally realized why he was so afraid of the Ingerman promise, "The promise was made to that dragon, wasn't it?" Fishlegs didn't reply, but it was more than an answer for Toothless. "When my ancestor died, he made a promise to his dragon, that one day a member of the Ingerman clan would bond with it, and become its new partner." "But no one ever did." "Every Ingerman is given the dragon's Krystal on their tenth birthday, and have been told by the previous owner to never summon it," Fishlegs continued to explain, "and wouldn't you know it, I'm the current owner," that last part he said with false enthusiasm.

"Okay, so I get what the promise is and who it was made to, but I still don't get the whole 'you'll go berserk' part," Toothless said, wondering what Fishlegs meant. The boy muttered something low that Toothless didn't hear. "What," he asked. Fishlegs muttered what sounded to be the same thing a little louder, but not loud enough to be understood. "Still not getting it."

"I'm afraid that if I summon it that it'll go berserk like my ancestor," he finally said loud enough to be heard. After keeping his family's promise secret from his friends for so long, it genuinely felt good to be able to tell someone about why no one kept the Ingerman promise. "So you afraid that the mere sight of this potentially dangerous and extremely powerful dragon that could eliminate a whole fleet of ships will cause a sort of 'primal memory' to trigger a natural instinct to go into a 'Berserk Mode' and cause you to lose all control of yourself as the dragon goes on an island destroying rampage?" Once again, Fishlegs' silence gave Toothless the answer he needed. "Uh, now I know how it feels to be Tuffnut when he asks a stupid question."

Fishlegs stared at the sand in front of him, and then back in the direction of the nest and his captured friends and enemies. When he fell when he was avoiding fireballs, he dropped his Krystals for Meatlug, Iggy and Tiny, but the dragon that belonged to his ancestor was the only one he didn't see. He reached a hand into his pocket, and pulled out the Krystal of the dragon. It was a round multi-colored rock, with an image of three faces, each with a different expression. From left to right, the expressions where one of happiness and joy, one of seriousness and intellect, and one of rage and fury. He sighed, knowing what he'd have to do to save everyone else. "This dragon is the only hope we have, but if I summon it," he didn't finish his sentence, for he was too afraid to.

"I'm not going to question why you think you'll go berserk, but I will ask why you decided to keep this a secret from everyone." Fishlegs looked at Toothless, his face ripe with shame, "Because then everyone'll think I'm a bigger coward than I already am." Looking back down, Fishlegs felt humiliated to have said that. Toothless walked over to him slowly, "I'm supposed to be a Viking, and Vikings are supposed to be brave, fearless. Sometimes I wonder if-" he said before Toothless cut him off. "You do know being brave and having no fear are two separate things right." The boy just scoffed, "That's easy for you to say, you can turn into a Night Fury, top of the class in speed, intelligence and, well, everything. What have you got to be afraid of?"

When Toothless didn't answer at first, Fishlegs said, "That's what I thought," and sat on a rock, his face buried in his palms. Toothless sighed, and jumped on the rock next to him, "Alright, now it's my turn to ask you to keep a secret." Fishlegs took his face out of his hands, and looked at the small cat next to him. Toothless looked out at the sea in front of him, and said "When I was a few months old, I was a gift for Hiccup when he turned eight. I don't know how, but I knew about this world, dragons, Drago, everything. Except, I didn't know about my past. I don't know anything about my parents, what I did before that, my parents, I don't even know if I'm really a cat or a dragon." As he listened, Fishlegs couldn't help but shed a tear at Toothless' heart wrenching tale, "That's so sad." "I know," Toothless said without looking at him. "I was so scared at the time, to know so much and so little at the time. But, when I first saw Hiccup, I wasn't scared any more, like we were meant to meet each other. I don't think of him as just my trainer and friend, I see him as a brother, and I would never forgive myself if I let anything happen to him."

Now Fishlegs didn't know what to say. "You can't not be afraid of something, but being brave doesn't mean you have to be," said a strange, soft spoken voice. The two looked around, wondering who said that. "Indeed, fear and courage are two halves of the same coin, they cannot exist without the other," said a calm, collected voice, which, once again came out from nowhere. "Stop looking around and reach into your pocket Fishlegs," came an agitated voice. "Wait," Fishlegs said, now realizing where the voices were coming from, looked back at the Krystal in his palms, "Are you guys-" "Yes we are," said the soft voice as the Krystal flashed in synch with the words the voice spoke. "Fishlegs, we didn't know you were afraid to summon us," the collected voice spoke again.

"I'm sorry did you just say 'us'," a confused Toothless asked. "Oh, did I forget to mention the dragon has three heads," Fishlegs replied, the thought now coming back. "So, you have a hydra? Wow, just, just wow," Toothless said, amazed by the fact Fishlegs had an incredibly powerful _multi-headed_ dragon. Fishlegs gave a light chuckle, amused at his feline friend's expression. "Fishlegs," said the calm voice, who drew the boy's attention back to the small stone in his hand, "We apologize for our behavior these last few years, we had no idea you felt this way." "Yeah you really shoulda' said something," the third voice said, before a smack sound was heard. "What he meant to say was, you should have been honest with us, and we should have been more understanding," the second voice said politely. "Fishlegs," the first came, "We promise that you will not go berserk if you summon us, and that we will protect and help you, as we did you ancestor."

Hearing the truth and honest in those words, Fishlegs began to cry a little, "Thank you guys," he said sniffling. "Okay, don't make a big deal about this," said the final voice, not wanting the scene to get to touchy-feely. Fishlegs looked at the sky, the sun beginning to rise over the horizon, and said, "It's time we help our friends," we determination and strength. Toothless smiled with the same determination as his friend, "Great. One last thing though," he said, killing the mood a bit. "Can I please get some names here?" "Oh, right of course," Fishlegs realized he hadn't properly introduced his dragon(s?). "You guys want to introduce yourselves, or should I?" "I feel it would be best to introduce ourselves. I am called Patience," answered the second voice. "My name is Innocence" said the first with a kind tone. "The name is Arrogance," said the third with a hint of pride. Still staring out at the nest, Fishlegs said in an all business tone, "Let's go."

* * *

 _Smokebreath Nest_

While Fishlegs and Toothless were having a heart-to-heart, the riders and two Trappers were busy doing, whatever one would do when one is locked in cages by a bunch of dangerous reptiles. "Remind me again why you thought it was a good idea to bring a second cage," Dagur said, giving Norbert the 'I'm going to kill you' look. "I was just being precautious, unlike some people who didn't think to have more than one dragon," Norbert fired back. "Well," Dagur paused, thinking up something to say back," what about your little 'fire-spitting' axe, that was a great failure mister 'Evil Genius'!"

"Will you two please, just SHUT UP," screamed Snotlout from the cage he and the others were in. " **STAY OUT OF THIS** ," the two crazy Vikings screamed back. "Alright, let's not lose our heads," Hiccup said, trying to keep everyone from attacking each other, "I'm sure Toothless and Fishlegs are coming back right now." "Um, not to be a downer our anything, but we don't even know if they escaped," Tuffnut pointed out. He got his answer when the Sabretooth Driver came back with his horn caught in a piece of tree bark, muttering angrily. "Little help here," he said rudely. The Skullion walked over from his position in front of the cave entrance, and using his large claw, cut the bark off. "Happy," he asked sarcastically. "Hang on," Ruff said aloud, "I'm no expert, but aren't you guys supposed to be deaf?"

"That's a myth, we're just blind," the Skullion answered, sounding like he'd heard that question be asked many times **(6)**. "Now what happened to the human and the house pet," he said, directed at the Sabretooth. "Got away, probably trying to swim all the way back to wherever they came from," the Sabretooth answered back. "Mmph, looksss like thossse cowardsss decccided to run away, leaving you five in our talonsss," the Nightshade said to the riders with a hiss. "Why did you come here," Astrid said, not threatened by the Nightshade. "Oh, that'sss our buissnesss, and you know what they sssay, loossse lipss sssink ssshipsss." "It doesn't matter," the Skullion said sternly, "We're leaving once we find the other two." "I knew we shouldn't have counted on Fishlegs," Snotlout said, to which Astrid replied, "Don't count them out yet, they're probably on their way back right now." "'Probably,'" Snotlout said, not believing that Fishlegs would come back, "It's Fishlegs, since when does he ever do anything brave?"

"I don't know Snotlout, sometimes people surprise you," Fishlegs' voice rang out. The three dragons looked high and low, searching for where the young Viking could be. "He's right, sometimes you think you know someone, and then they drop a bombshell on you," Toothless' voice said. "What's a bomb," Tuff asked. "It's a device, typically round that-, wait why am I doing this," Toothless started to answer before realizing what he was doing. Tired of the brief conversation, the Skullion said, "Give yourselves up, you're outnumbered and overpowered." "Now I wouldn't say _we_ are overpowered." "If anything, _you_ are the ones who are overpowered." "From a logical standpoint, it would be best if you three simply surrendered," said three voices, none of which the riders were familiar with. "Um, I think Fishlegs and Toothless got help," Ruffnut said, pointing at the two sitting atop a dragon just in front of some trees.

This Deadly Shadow stood on a pair of hind legs, giving it a human like stance. It had two small arms right below its shoulders, but they were so small compared to the dragon's wide body that they were barely noticeable. Its underside was a simple cream color, while its scales on the rest of its body (limbs, wings and tail included) were of a deep violet. When you reached the shoulders, three serpent like necks branched off, each similar yet different. Each head and neck had a different color, style of horns, and look to them. The left one had two horns on the back of its head that pointed backwards, along with one small one on its nose, and was colored a bright orange. The one to the right had its horns styled similar to a bull, jutting from the side of its head. It also had three horns on its snout, each one lined one after the other, giving the head a sort of angry look, fitting because its color was red. The middle head was of a light green color, and while it had the largest nose horn, which looked similar to a Nadder's horn, the horns on the back of it were quite small, about the size of a person's pinky. A line of spikes ran up and down the dragon's backside, splitting into three when it reached the separate necks. In sort, the whole dragon gave off a feel similar to a dragon in the old myths and legends of Europe.

Everyone just stood in awe, Snotlout even had his jaw drop, amazed that Fishlegs of all people could train a dragon like that. Hiccup was the first to say something, "Fishlegs has a hydra?" "Yes, we already went through this," Toothless said before jumping off the back of the dragon. "You guys think you can handle these three while I free the others," he asked. Fishlegs was about to respond, but Arrogance got the first words, "These chumps? We won't break a sweat." Offended by the comment, the Skullion growled, and commanded "Attack!" Within the blink of an eye, the Sabretooth and Toxic Nightshade pounced at the dragon from the sides, only for Innocence and Arrogance to swat them away. The Skullion then pounced at Patience, but the head and Fishlegs ducked, the Skullion instead landing against a tree.

Getting back on their feet, the three dragons began to circle Fishlegs and the Shadow, the three heads growling softly, waiting for their opponents' next move. Trying to get the upper hand, the Sabretooth fired at Arrogance, who saw it fire from the corner of its eye. With quick reflexes, the head fired a powerful stream of fire, which crackled and sparked with electricity, and collided with the Sabretooth's blast, the two attacks cancelling each other out. At the same time, the Nightshade tried to attack from behind, but Innocence heard the dragon slinking behind them and swiped its tail at the dragon, knocking it towards the cage, and almost hitting Toothless. Fortunately for him, the Nightshade payed no attention to him and kept attacking.

Speaking of Toothless, he ran towards the pile of weapons, the bag of Dragon Krystals, and most importantly, the keys to the cage. Grabbing the key in his mouth, he ran back to the cage with the riders in it, all while Dagur and Norbert begged to be let out as well. "Are you kidding me," he said with the key ring muffling his voice. He continued to run back to the cage, where Hiccup took the keys, "What took you so long, bud?" "Less talking, more setting us free," an impatient Snotlout said. Putting the key into the hole and turning it, the cage was unlocked, and Snotlout pushed everyone out of the way to get out first. "Oh thank Thor," he said with relief. After everyone else got out, they ran over to their weapons and took their respective Krystals out of the bag, and placed them back on their respective Medians. "Please, let us out, we'll even call a temporary truce and help you defeat these dragons," Norbert offered. While they were enemies, they decided to let Dagur and Norbert out, on the condition they don't betray, double-cross or backstab them.

While the 'prison break' was going on, Fishlegs and the Shadow where kicking tail. The three dragons couldn't even touch them. Positioned next to each other, the three dragons growled at the three heads, who stared them down with equal ferocity, even Innocence, and he's the goody-goody head. "This is your last opportunity to surrender before we have to do something we regret," Patience offered to no avail. "We will not surrender, we will fight until told otherwise," the Skullion turned down. With a loud roar, the three dragons fired fireballs at the three heads, only for them to fire their streams of electrical fire back. After the collision created a burst of smoke, Patience, Innocence and Arrogance charged from behind the cloud, surprising the three dragons, and rammed with such force that the three were thrown against one of the empty cages, knocking them over.

When they all got up, the saw that not only did they have to face the Shadow, but now that the captives where free, they had to also face a Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, Hideous Zippleback, Death Song, Skrill and a Night Fury,, if things weren't bad enough for them. "Give up," Fishlegs said in an attempt to sound aggressive. Looking at one another, the three dragons seemed to reach a decision, before each roaring a powerful roar, the combined force forcing the humans present to cover their ears. When they were finished, they took off and flew away from the island, going who knows where.

Giving a brief sigh and wiping his forehead, Fishlegs was relieved to have won that fight. "That was incredible Fishlegs!" "When did you get a dragon like that?" "And more importantly, can we barrow it," the twins said, really wanting to take the Shadow for a joyride. "Alright you two, give the man some space," Hiccup said, trying to keep them from overdoing it with the questions. "Yes well, now that that's all settled, we have one more problem," Norbert said, giving off the impression that their brief truce was over. The Skrill and Death Song growled at the riders and their dragons, who growled back, the two groups of Vikings staring each other down, weapons ready for a fight.

However, before either side could make the first move, the ground began to shake, and the dragons start to wig out. "What's going on," Astrid tried to shout over the sound of the shaking. "This is the same feeling we had when we first came over here," Barf said, whom Belch followed with, "The same feeling we had on Dragon Island, an Alpha is coming." As the shaking grew louder, the Alpha that mas making the sound came into view. It was, as most Alphas, massive, but not as massive as the Green Death the riders in countered on Dragon Island, really it was half the size. It was about twice the length of a longboat on Berk, with a body similar to a gigantic, muscly panther, its scales a glossy black. Two frills on the sides of the dragon's head gave the dragon the impression of a mane, with the head resembling a mixture of reptilian and feline traits. Two horns stemmed from above the eyes and pointed upward, adding to the dragons menacing appearance. From the base of its neck, two wings sprouted, but they were two small to allow the dragon to fly. Running down its back, a row of spikes were on the dragon, the largest being the ones on the neck and the ones the stopped before the arrow tipped tail. When it finally got a good view of everyone, it roared powerfully, exposing a set of green teeth, which matched its eyes, along with two snake like tongues. "D-D-D, Doomfang," Fishlegs stuttered out. **(7)**

The dragons bowed down to the Alpha, its mere presence intimidating them. The Doomfang looked at Dagur and Norbert, who simply stared in awe. After a moment, the massive dragon spoke, "Why are you staring at me like I'm a deer in a net, you should have been running five seconds ago." Dagur was the first to respond, "We're Dragon Trappers, we aren't scared of you." "No, but we are," the Skrill said, taking his master in his claws and flew away, the Death Song doing the same with Norbert. "Put me down right now! I mean it! This isn't over," Dagur shouted as the dragon carried him away.

""Ugh, I thought they'd never leave," the Doomfang said, sounding quite relieved. "Now then, Fishlegs Ingerman," he said, Fishlegs freezing up at the mention of his name, "Yes," he squeaked out in the highest pitched voice ever. "I congratulated you for passing this trial," the Doomfang said as he stretched a closed palm towards him, and opened it to reveal a Dragon Gem. It was an orange eight-pointed sun, with a red ring around the center. The Gem floated out of the dragon's claw, and towards Fishlegs, who could not understand what was going on.

"Judging by the look on your face, you don't get why I am doing this," the Doomfang questioned. "You think," Snotlout said, causing all the dragons present to glare at him. "What, seriously what did Fishlegs do," Snotlout said trying to defend himself. The Doomfang rolled his eyes, and got right to the point. "I'm the one who ordered that Skullion, Sabretooth and Nightshade to come here and drive out the Smothering Smokebreaths who live here. I did this to lure the Final Rider here and test him, but imagine my surprise when this, um, 'round', for lack of a better word, boy came here and passed the trial instead."

"Wait, I thought only the Final Rider could earn a Dragon Gem," Astrid stated. "No, anyone can pass and earn one, and they don't have to necessarily be the Final Rider," the Doomfang answered. "So, exactly what was the test, because I highly doubt it was to train an awesome dragon,' Tuff asked, starring at the Shadow. "No, this was a test of bravery. To earn that Gem, a person must conquer their fear, and in his case, it was fulfilling the promise his ancestor made all those centuries ago," answered the Doomfang. "Wait, the promise thingy was to this thing," a non-believing Snotlout said. "Yes, and would you please be quiet, I really can't stand the sound of your voice," Arrogance snapped. "Hold on, the Book of Dragons didn't mention this whole test," Hiccup pointed out. "The logic that book operates on is really confusing," was all the Doomfang could say before going back to business, "My point is, Fishlegs conquered his fear, so you got a fancy magic rock." The dragon began to turn around, before remembering something, "Oh, and tell your Chief's in-law that the whole curse thing was just a myth to keep people away from the Gem." With that said the Doomfang left, presumably to slither back into the sea that its kind inhabited.

With a smile of pride on his face, Fishlegs grabbed the floating sun shaped Gem, and put it in his pocket before looking at the Shadow. "I want to thank you guys for helping me," he said, before looking at Toothless, "And you too, you were the most help." "Okay, what happened that took you guys so long," Astrid said, not understanding what happened between the two. They looked at each other, before simultaneously saying, "Tell you later." "Great, great, but you still haven't answered one thing," Tuffnut stated, gaining everyone's attention. Ruff then asked, knowing what her brother was about to say, "Can we please ride your dragon sometime?" Looking at the twins trigger-happy expressions, Fishlegs gave a flat, "No." "Please?" "No." "Please? We won't prank you for a week, two weeks, seriously, name your price." "Enough," Patience said in a 'discussion over' voice similar to Stoick's. The twins backed off immediately. Each of the Shadow's heads then looked at Fishlegs, and in unison said, "Fishlegs Ingerman, we promise to protect and serve you as ferociously and loyally as we did your ancestor."

"Thank you," Fishlegs said gratefully, before looking behind the Shadow and say the twins smiling, likely imagining the mayhem they could cause if it was theirs, "But I think it's best if I call you as a last resort." "As you wish," they said before turning back into Krystal form. "Well, I say we should go back and tell the Smokebreaths they can come back," Astrid said, glad their mission was over. "I second that, I'm already tired of those guys," Tuff agreed. "I thought you wanted one," Astrid remembered. "Eh, I realized Chicken was much more fun."

Having enough of Breakneck Bog, the riders mounted their dragons, all while Hiccup and Toothless were giving a Snotlout a 'You-Know-What-To-Do' look. Rolling his eyes and scoffing, he reluctantly said, "Hey Fishlegs," gaining the attention of the day's hero, "What you did was pretty cool, for a guy who reads books," he muttered the last part under his breath. Not caring about what Snotlout added, Fishlegs just enjoyed what he done today, now because of him, they were one step closer to defeating Drago once and for all, he fulfilled an age old promise, and earned the trust of a Deadly Shadow, something he thought he'd never be able to do. The group returned to Berk, with Fishlegs smiling prideful all the way home.

* * *

 _The Core, Skygge Sea_

Norbert and Dagur walked on the deck of the flagship, one worried about what Drago would do to them, the other not really caring. Two big guards stood behind them, to make sure they didn't try to run. When they reached the end, they say Drago, sitting on a thrown covered with dragon scales, looking at them with an expression that didn't seem like anger or disappointment, but more like one of indifference. The guards pushed them down, making them kneel before him. Norbert, was the first to speak, "Sir, I beg for forgiveness for our failure at Breakneck Bog, we didn't expect-" "Silence." Norbert closed his mouth and stopped talking.

"I am not concerned about your insolence in obtaining that Dragon Gem," Drago said, slowly getting up from his thrown. "Really," Norbert said, surprised by his master's show of, well, some sort of understanding. "Yes, the lose of one Dragon Gem does not really affect my plan," Drago said, still not sounding furious, which is really, not expected. "No, I called you here to get a report on the project you were assigned." Knowing why he was summoned, Norbert exhaled with relief, "Well sir, if all go according to plan, it should be up and running in about a month." "I want it done by the end of the week," Drago stated, eerily calm. "A week sir? We won't be able to finish -," Norbert started, before seeing one of Drago's trademark threatening looks, before changing the subject to, "It'll be finished before then sir."

Turning away from his minions, Drago walked over to the side of his ship, were one could faintly make out the outline of the face of his Bewilderbeast, the bubbles of air popping as they reached the surface. "This project will help me escape this wretched place, with or without the Dragon Gems, and I promise that if you fail, I won't be nearly as understanding as I am now," he said, not bothering to look at the two. With that, the two guards took the Trappers to their feet, and began to escort them to Norbert's laboratory, but before they left, Dagur couldn't resist asking, "Why do you want it finished so soon," causing Norbert to give him a 'seriously did you just ask him that, are you trying to get us killed' panicked expression.

Surprisingly, instead of scolding and threatening Dagur's life for questioning him, Drago instead gave a light, dark chuckle, and said to Dagur, "Because I think it's time that the Final Rider and I were properly introduced."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Wooooo, little bit of a cliffy there**

 **1st) Thoughts:**

 **For the most part, I like this chapter. I liked giving Fishlegs some more focus and some backstory for him, and Toothless for that matter to. Their little conversation about what Hiccup means to Toothless was my favorite part, because, even though this is a fanfic, it shows how close their bond is. My only complaint would be the scene in the beginning were Fishlegs talked to Gobber, which really wasn't important. But other than that, good.**

 **2nd) Notes**

 **(1): Design is the Exotic Smokebreath from Rise of Berk. Because there are so many dragons in that app, their colors and patterns will be used to represent an individual dragon, just to show it is somewhat important. Also, number of times the words Smothering Smokebreath, Smokebreath or Smokebreaths were said in this chapter (this note included): 29, or somewhere around that amount.**

 **(2) Yeah, I was re-watching the episode in** _ **Defenders of Berk**_ **where the Screaming Death made its debut, and when Astrid said Snotlout's "charge people for water" idea was dumb, I decided to put that in a conversation for a 'fun-filled' conversation. And Astrid was kind of right, I mean what give people the right to charge us for using water. I'm just kidding, pay your water bills people, even if it is dumb to pay for water.**

 **(3** **rd** **, 4** **th** **, 5** **th** **, and 7th. Yes I'm grouping them all together because they all the same) I found fan art of those dragons that I wanted to share. The art belongs to their respective owners, I am just telling people about them. You can find them on devianart.**

 **Once again, the art belongs to their respective owners, the images are not mine, and the idea of the respective dragons belong to Cressida Cowell and anything else people say to keep themselves from being sewed.**

 **(6) I am aware that in the books that Skullions are both sightless and deaf, but I wanted to be a little realistic, so I gave them hearing. But other than that, the dragon is mostly the same, it can't fly, it's blind it has a giant claw and great sense of smell, the whole enchilada, just with the bonus of hearing.**

 **Okay, so that's pretty much it. Have a happy Easter, whether or not it's Easter when/where you're reading this because I don't understand time zones.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

 **PurifierofChaos13100**

 **This chapter was poster on March 26, 2016.**


	9. Chapter 7 (The Storm Grows)

**Author's Note: Hello everyone!**

 **Disclaimer: HTTYD is not mine, all rights to the franchise belong to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell.**

* * *

 _Chapter 7: The Storm Grows_

Weather on Berk isn't exactly the best. The temperature ranges from mild cold to frostbite inducing torture, and the weather is proof, between the basic snow and hail, that's all the place has. Fortunately, the people who lived on the chunk of rock were well adapted to handling the weather. They had their food storage built close to the center of the village, the barns were _mostly_ weather-proof, and with dragons for warmth and help, the Hooligan tribe could handle most storms. The reason the term 'most' is used is because they can handle snowstorms and blizzards, but there was always that one storm were it was too dangerous to leave your homes. Usually some heavy winds, some very strong rain, and minor collateral damage.

And guess what today's forecast calls for.

Inside the Berk Library, the teens, Toothless, Gobber and Old Wrinkly were all trying to distract themselves from the raging winds and rain hammering against the rooftop. Fishlegs, being 'one who appreciates the fine art of reading', was reading the books stored in the library. It didn't matter what genre or type, he just read anything he saw. Snotlout was basically following Astrid, doing more vain attempts to woo her, despite her constantly moving around to avoid him. Gobber was polishing his hook for the hundredth time when he finally snapped and told Snotlout to leave her alone. Old Wrinkly was in his personal 'office' of sorts, recording that events that had happened since Hiccup arrived in the Archipelago. The twins, being 'worshippers of Loki', it's really just an excuse to pull pranks all the time, were trying to come up with future pranks, one of which involved a wolf, five pounds of fresh cod, and Zippleback gas. As curious as one might be, it's best to not ask.

Hiccup was in one of the corners with Toothless, using the Dragon Blade as a substitute laser pointer and watching his friend chase the little light around. Toothless chased the little thing across the floor, climbed to the top of bookcases when it hit the walls, he even tried to jump up when it hit the ceiling. Eventually, Hiccup got bored with this and stopped, much to Toothless' chagrin. "You're no fun you know that." "Sorry bud, but unlike cats, humans don't chase tiny lights around," he said, trying to be humorous. He looked at one of the windows, and saw that the storm outside was not letting up, in fact it looked like it was getting worse. "Now I know what it was like living before Ben Franklin," Toothless said, missing all the things they had back on Earth.

Toothless loved being on Berk, and in contrast to Hiccup, who was still going with the whole 'leave immediately after stopping Drago' thing, he didn't think about leaving. But in Hiccup's defense, earth has things Berk didn't have, like ways to entertain yourself when you're trapped inside during a storm, food you didn't have to kill before cooking it, and indoor plumbing. "Yeah, but don't worry, if all goes well, we should be home pretty soon." Toothless thought about what he was about to say, because no matter what it was, it was going to be awkward. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Are you really sure you don't want to stay, I mean, despite the shortcomings, this is a cool place, and I want to stay a while longer." Hiccup looked at his best friend, surprised at what he said. While it was no secret he had brought the topic of staying or leaving from time to time, this was the first Toothless had directly said he wanted to stay. "But Toothless, everything we've ever known is back on Earth, you can't really mean that bud." Toothless didn't respond, instead he gave a look that subtly said he meant it. "You really are serious about this aren't you?"

"Well, I mean, how many people do you know have been to a world where people ride and train dragons?" "Or enslave them and use them for war," Hiccup pointed out, referring to the army of captured, tortured and/or brainwashed dragons forced into serving Drago. "No, we can't stay here." "If you're about to say it's because of your mom or you're afraid of disappointing people, I feel like we've been over this," Toothless said, reminding Hiccup of the events of their first week on the island. "No, I've got past that whole 'disappointment' thing, but regardless of the circumstances back home, I still can't just leave her alone." _Again with the mom angst, I thought we were past this_ , Toothless said in his mind. "Do you even care about her," Hiccup asked, his voice starting to grow louder.

"It's not that I don't care about your mom, I just think you should consider whether or not leaving right away would be the best option," he said, sensing that the conversation was starting to take a turn for the worst. "You know, you acting really selfish." " _I'm_ acting selfish," Hiccup shouted, "I want to go back home because I'm worried about my mom, what's _your_ excuse for wanting to stay?!" Toothless couldn't believe what Hiccup had just said. Sure, he wasn't being supportive of his best friend's decision, and Hiccup did have good reasons for wanting to leave, but it wouldn't have hurt to listen to his opinion and stay a while after sealing Drago in the Core permanently. "What about everyone we've met, you think leaving won't affect them," Toothless came up with in the spur off a moment. "They train flying lizards that spit fire, I think they can handle someone leaving. We are going home when this is all over Toothless, and that is final," Hiccup angrily said. "Why won't you listen to what I want to say?" "Because you're _just a cat_ Toothless!"

Hiccup's words echoed throughout the library, the statement hanging in air after he said it. Toothless looked at his friend, rage burning in his eyes. Hurt by what he said, Toothless said, "Well, if I'm 'just a cat', then maybe I should go a chase some mice!" "Okay by me!" "Fine." "Fine." "Fine!" "Fine!" "FINE!" With a huff, the two turned opposite to each other and walked to separate parts of the library.

Unbeknownst to them, everyone else in the building had heard the two arguing, and watched from behind a bookcase. They all stood speechless, with Fishlegs' mouth a gape. "Well, to paraphrase the old saying, 'When best friends fight, it is everyone else who was to suffer,'" Tuffnut said with a Shakespearean style of speaking. "Agreed, good sir. I predict that for the events of tomorrow, we all will have to help get to them to apologize, which will not be an easy feet," Ruffnut said in the same type of voice. "You've got that right," Astrid said. The others just nodded, agreeing that tomorrow won't be easy.

* * *

The next day, everyone on Berk was helping to repair the damage the storm caused. The damage was fairly easy to repair, some roofing material was knocked off, a few torches were knocked over and had to be fixed, but a couple boars got loose. Most of the riders were helping with the repairs, except Hiccup, who was at the forge helping Gobber, and ranting about Toothless.

He picked up a mace, and because it was too heavy for him, it dropped and he had to drag it to Gobber, who picked it up with no struggle. "Who does he think he is? He can't go telling me what to do," he said, as he began to pace around the shop. "Well lad, ya' did say somethings tha' war' outta place," Gobber pointed out. "I know that, but I wouldn't have had to say that if he didn't bring up the whole leaving thing." Hearing their trainer's attitude, Sharpshot and Windwalker summoned themselves and looked at Hiccup. "Well," Windwalker began quietly, "You weren't being much of a good friend." "How was I being the bad friend?" "Did you actually listen to Toothless or did you hear him," Sharpshot asked. "Did ya' even ask why he wants ta' stay," Gobber interjected. Sharpshot gave the old blacksmith a look that told him to not interrupt the conversation. "Right, sorry."

"I did, but he didn't tell me," Hiccup answered. "Maybe it was just too hard for him to talk about," Windwalker came up with. Hiccup froze in his tracks, "I hadn't thought of that," he said, starting to understand why Toothless reacted the way he did. "Hiccup, we may not have known you that long, but it's clear that Toothless has always been there for," Sharpshot said, "But shouldn't you be there for him?" Sighing, Hiccup said, "Are you always like this when people are fighting, or am I just the exception?" "I get like this when best friends fight. Believe it or not, I've been in your shoes before Hiccup," Sharpshot explained.

"I once got into a fight with my younger sister-" "You have a sister?" "Yes, I'm the middle child of a clutch of seven and the only boy, and before you ask, yes, that is why I decided to tagalong and become your dragon. **{1}** " Eleven sisters, and being a middle child, sometimes it was moments like this that made Hiccup glad he was an only child. He'd often wanted a younger sibling, but there were times when he was happy he didn't have to deal with the problems have having to live with one. "Anyway," Sharpshot continued on, "We were all planning a surprise party for our parents, but she would never show up to help, and I wouldn't listen to why she didn't show. We wouldn't speak to each other for a long period of time. And when I found out why she didn't help, I felt like a jerk. As it turned out, her best friend had gone missing, and she was so wrapped up in the pain of losing her, that she spent hours looking all over the place, and my getting mad didn't help. My point is, that when someone you care about needs help, the best thing you can do is be supportive and listen."

If Sharpshot was trying to make Hiccup feel guilty about snapping at Toothless and not listening to him, it worked. Looking back, Toothless was always there for him, and thinking about what he had said last night, about how he was just a cat, only made him realize that what everyone present said was right, he was a bad friend. "I've got to go Gobber, you think you can handle the rest for today," Hiccup told the old blacksmith. "A'l be fine lad. You are going ta' take your dragons right," he replied, gesturing his head over to Windwalker, who was sobering and hugging Sharpshot, no doubt emotionally moved by the Terror's story a little too much. "Ah, sure. Come on guys." Windwalker reluctantly let go, and lowered his sobering, and the two followed their trained as he began to run around the village, looking for the person (or pet) he had to apologize to.

* * *

 _A_ _cademy_

Toothless laid on a bench, his head facing the wall, enough to block the sunlight but not enough to not hear the other teens talk with Stoick, something about helping fix a broken beam in the Great Hall. But he knew what they were trying to do, the storm didn't even touch the inside of the building. No, they were trying to convince the Chief to help get him and Hiccup to stop their little argument. But it wasn't going to work, _He said I'm "Just a cat." Well, if that's what he thinks, then who needs him_ , he said to himself, not really meaning it. Truth be told, he wanted to reconcile with his friend, but he knew that Hiccup could be quite stubborn at times, no doubt he gets it from his parents. Out of all the things Hiccup could have said, he went with 'just a cat.' Might as well have said he was just a sword that could be replaced.

Trying to forget about his troubles, he closed his eyes, hoping that when he woke up, all this drama felt like a distant memory.

* * *

 _The setting around quickly changed from the academy, to a place Toothless hadn't seen in a while. It was the park that was two blocks from the house back on earth. It was a small park, and it wasn't much different from every other one. There were a few benches for people to sit, himself on one, two of which were in the shade, a water fountain at the end of the place, some tables for eating and playing board games, and a small, colorful playground for which small children could play at. Toothless could only stare at the place, remembering how much fun he and Hiccup had when the pair were young._

" _It is amazing how things can change in a short time," came a voice Toothless hadn't heard in a long time, Cloudjumper's voice. He turned around, and saw the pretentious owl staring at him from atop a branch. He flew down, flapping his wings until the bird landed on the bench Toothless was on. "Hey Cloud," Toothless said nervously, "How's it going?" "Don't call me Cloud,_ **{2}** _and 'how it is going' is irrelevant," Cloudjumper said, a look of seriousness on his face. "Straight to point as always," Toothless said, rolling his eyes. "This is serious Night Fury," Cloudjumper said in a stern voice. "Wait, are you really here or are you part of my imagination?" "Pay attention," Cloudjumper shouted. Toothless quickly stopped asking questions._

" _Now then," Cloudjumper said, before smacking Toothless' head with his wing, "What were you thinking!" "Yeesh, you're definitely here for real," Toothless said, rubbing where the owl had hit him. "And you're going to have to be a bit more specific?" "Why did you try to convince Henry to stay in the Barbaric Archipelago," Cloudjumper clarified. He never really liked the 'Hiccup' nickname, and always referred to him by his real name, just as he had always referred to Toothless by the name of his dragon species instead of his real name. "Well, I was thinking that leaving right away is a wasted opportunity and-" Cloudjumper cut him off, not believing what his feline associate was lying, "Or, you are looking for a way to stay and find out about your past."_

 _Toothless looked down in defeat and sighed, "Well, you're not telling me, so I might as well try." "I have told you before, neither I, nor Lady Valka know of your past, you were given to us on Henry's second birthday-" "You do know he was eight, right?" "He was born on a leap year, so technically he was two." "Yeah, but we all agreed to say it was his eighth." "When did that happen?" "Oh, you were out in the forest behind Mrs. Carmichael's house hunting mice, and the rest of us decided to say Hiccup turned eight." "Well how come I wasn't told?" "I just assumed you knew." "It is still polite to, wait, why am I talking about this," Cloudjumper said as he realized he had gone off topic. "My point is that, if Henry wants to leave after all your work in the Archipelago is done for, then who are you to ask him to stay for your own reasons?"_

 _Toothless rolled his eyes and scoffed, "You know, for a wise owl, you really don't know how to help someone out," he said as he leaped off the bench and began to walk around the park. "Look, if you're just here to tell me to apologize to Hiccup and leave after Drago is sealed away forever or, whatever will happen when all eleven Dragon Gems are brought together, and miss any chance I have about finding about my life before I came to the Haddock household, then you can leave." Cloudjumper sighed, and began to follow Toothless around. "Actually, there are two more things I would like to talk about." "Of course there are, because you never talk about just one thing Cloud," Toothless complained. "This is important," the prideful owl said as he landed in front of Toothless. "Alright, shoot."_

" _Thank you. The first thing is that, I have received word from a friend within the Archipelago that soon, you and Henry will have a confrontation with Drago Bludvist within the near future, and that you will not be able to stop him in your current state." While the thought of facing Drago did concern him a little, I mean he did have to be locked away in the center of a planet because he was so dangerous, Toothless shrugged it off. "Well I say let him try then, I can probably take him." "Do not let yourself become arrogant. You have been able to defeat many opponents during your time in the Viking and Dragon world, but I have heard that you needed assistance when you received power from the Dragon Blade."_

 _Toothless froze up, how did Cloudjumper know about the time when the Dragon Blade gave him power, and he transformed into that 'Fire Form', for lack of a better term? The event replayed in his mind over and over. He had already thought that his Night Fury form was powerful, but that 'Fire Form' gave him power beyond what he thought possible "My friend has also been watching you from the shadows. While I am impressed that you were able to use the power of fire, but you have yet to tap into the limitless potential that the Dragon Blade possesses. And until you realize why, you will never be able to reach your full potential, it is something that you and Henry must do." At this point, Toothless had already had enough of Cloudjumper's wisdom mambo jumbo, and asked him to get to the other thing._

" _The second thing, is a question. Has Henry gotten close to any adult within the tribe of Hooligans?" Toothless didn't expect that of all things Cloud made seem so important, Hiccup's personal life was the last thing he'd see coming. "Well, besides the blacksmith, he really hasn't gotten that attached to any adult in the village." Toothless wasn't looking when a look of concern spread across Cloudjumper's face. "The blacksmith?" Toothless nodded. "You mustn't let Henry become close to him or the chief." "Why is that such a big deal?"_

 _Cloudjumper didn't get to answer, because before he could say anything more, he literally just vanished in the blink of an eye. Before Toothless could even respond, the ground shook, as if the world was trying to split in two. The sky turned a dark purple, and the dream began to fall apart as Toothless was being awoken forcefully._

* * *

Toothless' eyes opened as he fell of his bench, and immediately regretted it. In the center of the academy floor, a swirling vortex of dark power was trying to pull everyone in. "What the heck is that," he shouted as he grabbed the bench to avoid being caught in the pull of the vortex. "I don't know," Fishlegs shouted, holding on the academy walls for dear life. "It appears to be some kind of surge of dark magic," Stoick said, holding his ground. "Well, I know one thing, if something is incredibly destructive, and not in the good way, odds are it involves the lunatic under our feet," Ruffnut tried to say over the sound of the vortex, which was starting to grow louder. "Which one?" "Good point."

Just then, Hiccup ran in, with Sharpshot and Windwalker trailing behind. The three halted, and looked on in shock. "What is that thing," Windwalker said fearfully. "A swirling vortex of evil, what else does it look like?!" Just as Snotlout said that, the vortex started to intensify even more. It grew larger, enough to go over the dome of the academy, and the pull became stronger. And if that wasn't bad enough, it was also starting to shoot lightning bolts that left large scorch marks where they struck. One almost hit Hiccup, forcing him to move out of the way, and he ended up being pulled straight into the vortex. "HICCUP," everyone shouted.

"We have to jump in after him." "Are you crazy," Snotlout said, "We don't know what that thing'll do to us if we jump in." "Hiccup would've done the same for any of us," said Astrid. "Snotlout's right," Stoick said, muttering "I can't believe I just said that," as an afterthought. "This is too dangerous, I forbid it." "Well, then it's a good thing that you're not my chief," Toothless said, right before jumping into the vortex. "Come on Windwalker, we gotta go after them," Sharpshot said as he prepared to jump. "But Stoick just said-" "Oh, you know what they say, 'The brave die once, but the cowards do so repeatedly,'" **{3}**. With that Sharp jumped into the ominous swirly thing, with a very reluctant Windwalker behind.

Toothless fell through the vortex, looking for where Hiccup could have went. The inside was just as bad as the outside, only this time lightning surged throughout the whole of the vortex. After about two minutes of falling, he fell out of the vortex and plummeted straight to solid ground. Being a cat and all, he landed on all fours. He looked around, taking note of where he had landed.

He stood on a cliff, behind him, a field of snow, large mounds and chunks of ice all over the place. In the air, were floating pieces of ice, scattered for as far as the eye could see. The sky, a mix of dark blue, purple and black, covered this strange place like a cloak. Straight above him he could see the vortex, know a black spiral mark in the sky. He looked down below, and saw an ocean at the base of the cliff. The water was as deep and black as the inside of the darkest caves, the waves crashing against the frozen cliffs. Just looking at it made Toothless feel like he was drowning.

The sound of flapping wings drew his attention. He turned around, and saw Sharpshot and Windwalker land. "Where are we," Windwalker asked, his eyes frantically moving around. "I don't know, but wherever it is, I get the feeling it isn't good." "I don't think we should have done this alone," Windwalker whimpered, "We should have asked everyone to come with us." "Well, it's too late for that," Sharpshot explained, "Besides, it's not like someone's going to fall out of the sky." "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Fishlegs fell face first in a snow pile next to them, splattering snow onto the ground. He got himself out, and landed on his back, his head leaning back. The three looked at their surprise guest, Sharpshot saying, "I can't believe that worked." "I know," Toothless agreed. "I expected Fishlegs to be the last one to jump in."

"Comin' in hot, and blowin' up snot!" This time, the twins came down, landing flat on their faces, coming close enough that snow ended up on the three who had arrived first. Toothless shook himself, trying to remove the snow that landed on his black fur. "Now them, I was expecting." They were soon joined by Astrid, who stuck her landing, and Snotlout, who fell right on his rear end. "Ow," he said, before pretending he landed that way on purpose. "Yea, I uh, meant to do that. Sometimes I like to mix up my landing style, keeps my enemies on their toes." He got up, and decided now of all times to flirt. "You know Astrid, we should discuss how to properly land sometime." Needless to say, Astrid wasn't in the mood. "Now's not the time Snotlout. We have to find where Hiccup could have gone."

"Based on what little I could say as I fell, he didn't land on any of those floating islands," Fishlegs said. "Maybe he was thrown somewhere else." "Or maybe he ended up in that blackish, scary looking ocean." Tuffnut's words earned him a fierce scold from Toothless. "He didn't land there!" "Well, how can you be so sure? I mean, it's not like you landed with him." "Enough bro," Ruffnut said, giving her brother a smack on his helmet. "Can't you see he's already feeling bad?" "Thanks Ruff." "Besides, it's not your fault that Hiccup came into the Academy, probably looking for you, just when you so happened to be there when an evil vortex to oblivion opened up." "You know for a moment there, you were actually doing pretty well," Toothless said as his feeling of gratitude turned into guilt.

A loud snarling and the sound of wing beats came up on the group. They hid behind the snow mound Fishlegs had landed in, and saw a group of dragons fly past them, not noticing the five humans, two dragons and a cat see them. But the dragons weren't just any dragons. "Armored Dragons," Windwalker said, his voice trembling in fear. "I think I know where we are," Astrid said, staring in the directions the dragons flew off. "We're in the center of our world. We've fallen into the Core."

* * *

 _Skygge Sea, Drago's Flagship,_

Hiccup winced in pain as he was unceremoniously thrown into a cell. "Well, looks like the so-called Final Rider, isn't as invincible as he makes himself out to be," Dagur gloated as he closed the cell door. Norbert placed a large and comically oversized lock on the door once it was closed, and said, "I knew my Decay Pulsars would do the trick." "Yeah, for once your dumb inventions actually come in handy." Norbert gave his lunatic co-worker a look that asked, "For once?" "Name one time my 'dumb inventions' didn't come in handy?" "Well, there was that 'Blaster Horn' from Glacier Island." "That worked. I just forgot to heat proof it. But in my defense, we were in a place with snow and ice, heat is a distant second to cold." "Then how about that weird crossbow that turns into a sword, hmm? That was fun, a lot of cleaning up after that mess." "Mild calibration error." "And then there's-"

"Do you two ever listen to yourselves?" The arguing duo looked to see Eret looking at them with an irritated look. "Let's just agree that Nutjob over here, it's a fifty-fifty split whether or not the stuff he makes works or not." Eret turned his attention to Hiccup, who was staring him down from the inside of his cell. Eret chuckled smugly, "You've been a naughty boy now haven't you. Don't worry, after Drago talks to you, I'm sure you'll reconsider your behavior." "I wouldn't get suggest getting your hopes up, Drago doesn't scare me," Hiccup tried bluffing. "Well, you've got spunk kid, you'd make an excellent Trapper you know." "Thanks, coming from you that means _so much_." Eret gave an indifferent 'hmph' and called his Skrill Chiller. "Stand guard, and make sure our guest doesn't try anything." The dragon nodded in understanding, and the three non-captive humans left the prison.

"I don't suppose you want to let me out know, do you?" The Snow Wraith only growled lightly, yet enough to give Hiccup an answer. "Alright, then I'll just sit," he said, walking over to the bench at the end of the cell, "And I'll guess I'll wait until whatever that whack-job Drago wants with me." The Skrill Chiller gave a slight smile, and said, "You really do have spunk boy." "Thanks," Hiccup replied, briefly looking at the guard dragon, before double taking and saying, "Wait, you talk?" "Yes, I merely choose to stay silent for the time." "Well, glad to know," Hiccup said, his attention fully turned to his cell guard. "Not to poke the bear, but why don't you wear any armor like every other dragon I've seen under Drago's control?" The Skrill Chiller looked at Hiccup with a surprised expression. Hiccup started to get the feeling he did something wrong, so he tried to act as if he didn't know what he said. "What? I'm sorry, I don't know where my mind is at," he added an awkward laugh or two at the end. "No, don't be. I'm just not used to people wanting to listen," the Snow Wraith explained. "So, are you going to answer?"

The Skrill Chiller sat on his haunches, and looked directly at Hiccup, now standing closer to the bars, and began to tell a story. "Decades ago, I lived on an island, isolated all by myself. I was never good at interacting with most others of my kind, so I found solitude a quiet, peaceful existence. One day a small group of men from a small fishing tribe landed on the shores of the isle. They were on a camping trip as part of a survival test, and they weren't disturbing me, so I didn't bother them. A few days in, and a strong blizzard started to cover the island. Most had gotten to their campsite safely, except for a young ten-year old. I decided to go out and search for the boy, without help, he would have been lost. I searched high and low, but to no avail, he was nowhere in sight. I returned to my cave, and imagine my surprise when I found him walking towards the place. I was going to let him stay there while I rested somewhere else, but then an avalanche come crashing down. I flew down, snatched the boy, and took him somewhere safe. He was scared at first, but after seeing I meant no harm, he began to trust me. As we waited out the storm, I became attached to him, and he told me of his life and his village. After the storm was over, I took him back, just as his tribesmen were about to leave. It was hard, letting him go, after I became fond of him, but he belonged with his tribe.

A few months later, Drago's forces started to escape the Core, the spell separating them from the surface, and they destroyed his village. Any survivors were forced into his army. When I had heard about this, I came here to save him, only to be caught. Desperate to keep my free will, I somehow managed to get Drago to make deal with me." That part confused Hiccup, why would Drago agree to something unless he had an alternative motive, clearly something wasn't right. " I convinced him to spare me, and in exchange, I would serve him willfully. You can imagine the results. I was partnered up with the boy, much to his surprise, and I have been helping him do that monster's dirty work ever since."

"That boy, it was Eret, wasn't it." Skrill Chiller didn't say anything, instead he looked down at the floor. "It was, but he has changed over the years. I still reside here, hoping one day I can save him," the dragon said solemnly. "If you know whatever good for you, you will forget this conversation, and stay quiet until Drago meets you," he suddenly snapped, before starting to walk around the prison, Hiccup looking surprised by the dragon's change in attitude. "Alright then," Hiccup muttered under his breath, "I guess I'll just sit here." Now he was starting to wish he had brought the Dragon Blade with him when he went to the Academy, but it would probably have been taken anyway.

" _Final Rider, if you can hear me, please, come so we can talk"_ came an innocent, almost child-like voice. Hiccup got off the bench, and looked around the prison, but no one else was inside, apart from Skrill Chiller. "Who said that," he wondered aloud. _"I'm out here,"_ the voice said again. _"Come over to the window, and look down at the water below, you'll see me there."_ Following the voices instructions, Hiccup walked back over to the back of the cell, and stood on the bench so that he could get his head over the window. He looked down, and saw the outline of a massive, draconic face with massive tusks looking at him. Hiccup was in shock at what was staring at him. "What are you," he asked in louder tone. _"Please, if you can, speak only through your mind, it is the only way we can communicate without the risk of being heard."_

" _Okay,"_ Hiccup said mentally. _"Now, to answer your question, I am a Bewilderbeast, the largest of known dragons, and Drago's personal dragon."_ Hiccup didn't know is he should continue, if this dragon was really Drago's dragon, then talking, or thinking, might not have been the best idea.. _"Please, I beg of you, stop Drago Bludvist and end his threat to the Archipelago."_ Now Hiccup didn't know what to think of the Bewilderbeast, if he really is Drago's dragon, then why is he asking Hiccup to stop him. _"Why? If you are his dragon, then why are you asking me for help? Shouldn't you want to not have Drago sealed away anymore?" "Not by choice. Centuries ago, he found me as an egg. The moment I hatched, he began to torture me into obeying him. It worked, as a hatchling I could not stand up to him, and even as an adult, he had broken me."_ Hiccup couldn't help but begin to feel sorry for the dragon. Having the only father-like person, if you could even call Drago that, treat him like that, it really spoke volumes about what kind of person he was.

" _And after the warrior of Berk sealed us here, I tried to run away, to escape his control. But no matter how many times I tried, he always found me, and he continued to treat me the way he did. Eventually, he cast a dark spell, a spell so powerful, that every time he gave me a command, I would have no choice to obey. My body listens to his every whim, my mind is the only part of me he does not have control of."_ The Bewilderbeast's story began to make Hiccup's heart sadden even more. Not only had the dragon tried to escape and make a better life for himself, but now he can barely think for himself. _"Please, I have spent centuries down here, unable to do anything to truly escape this realm. Final Rider, I ask of you to save the world, and make sure no one else suffers the fate I have endured for these past six centuries."_

Wait, six centuries, but everyone said that Drago was sealed away three centuries ago. Wanting to know more, he asked the Bewilderbeast to elaborate. _"It was not always this way. Drago was sealed after his final battle, but before that, this place was his base of operations. It was only after the Great Sealing Spell that he and his army became locked away." "Okay, but I didn't ask that, I asked how you could be over six hundred if Drago is over three hundred and he found you as an egg."_ In the water below, the Bewilderbeast looked forlorn, his eyes looking down, before facing Hiccup again and said, _"Because Drago is over a thousand years old."_ **{4}**

* * *

The group followed the small bunch of armored dragons they had seen. They trekked through the tough snow, the substance sticking to their clothes and boots. "Why couldn't we have just flew on our dragons," Snotlout complained. "Because, if we fly in on our dragons, then they might spot us, and then we would have to fight them," Fishlegs answered. "Well I say we can take 'em." "Yeah, and then we can fight an army of mind-controlled dragons _and_ like a couple thousand people, great thinking Snotlout," Sharpshot snarked.

Toothless didn't pay attention to the squabbling of the others, instead he looked solemnly at the ground. What Ruff had accidently said before, combined with Cloudjumper's message, was making him fell guilty. Perhaps Cloudjumper was right, if he hadn't brought up leaving Berk, then Hiccup wouldn't have been mad, and he wouldn't have gone into the academy, probably looking for him, when the vortex appeared. But he had also said that they would fight Drago soon, so he couldn't blame himself for what had happened, but he still felt that if he hadn't had acted so rudely…

"Are you okay," Windwalker asked. "Yeah," Toothless lied, still looking down. "We can do this. We'll be out of here in no time." He couldn't tell if the Skyfang believed him or not, but Windwalker didn't say anything more, so maybe he did. "While we're on the subject, why did Hiccup come to the Academy?" "I pretty sure he wanted to apologize," the feathered dragon responded. Toothless' head shot, and looked at Windwalker. "I think. Sharpshot told him about a bad experience he had with his sister. Which one, I can't remember, I started crying pretty fast." Two things caught Toothless' mind. First, Sharpshot apparently had some sisters, and second, Hiccup was going to apologize. But he couldn't wrap his mind around why. If anything _he_ should be the one saying 'I'm sorry.' But Hiccup came, completely unaware of what was going on in the Academy, wanting to apologize to him. And because he was there at the wrong time, they ended up going to the prison of the worst man in history on a rescue mission. If anyone was feeling guilty, it was Toothless.

A new roar came from above, and an armored Changewing landed down. Its scales a molten gray, and its eyes, they were different than most dragons. The eyes glowed a darkened purple, and it said, "What do we have here? A couple of humans and dragon that I'm sure Lord Bludvist would love to meet," in a voice that sounded as if a great, destructive, evil force had taken control of the poor dragon. It began to spray its green, corrosive acid at the group, everyone having to keep on their feet to avoid being hit. "Anyone have a spare Changewing," Fishlegs asked, sounding like he was going to start panicking. "No," Ruffnut said, drawing her dagger, "But I've got the next best thing. Alright Trancemare, do your thing girl!" With that, the glowing, multi-colored Flightmare appeared above them, and sprayed her paralyzing mist. But the Changewing was too fast, too quick.

Even though it couldn't use its camouflage abilities, the snow would give away where it went, and Changewings couldn't camouflage against the sky, but it still had other tricks up its sleeve, or scales. It closed its eyes, before quickly opening them, and a dark aura enveloped it. The dark force swiftly moved up the dragon's wings, and took on the form of axes before solidifying into the weapons. "Great, this things got magic," Snotlouts said from behind a large chunk of ice. He swiftly hid his head behind the chunk again when the armored dragon fired in his direction, only this time, the acid wasn't a glowing green. No, instead it was as black as a moonless night. The substance hit the piece of ice, and at uncanny speed, the ice melted, leaving Snotlout exposed. He chuckled awkwardly, before grabbing his mace and shouted, Hookfang, a little help here!" The Monstrous Nightmare quickly appeared and his human partner commanded "Fire Jacket." Hooking flamed up, and pounced on the Changewing, only for it to swipe him away.

The axes added onto the dragon's armor weren't just for intimidation purposes, they were as heavy as a baby Rumblehorn (which, FYI, is pretty heavy). Hooking was thrown back, almost landing on Astrid, Fishlegs, and Sharpshot. Tuff moved to call a dragon himself, but the Changewing fired at him, forcing the otherwise destruction happy Viking to jump out of the way. "Does anyone have a bag of Changewing repellent?" "If we did, you think we would have used it already," Snotlout shouted at the boy twin. Toothless, trying to come up with a plan on how to defeat his foe, despite lacking the power of his Dragon form at the moment, saw a way to distract it. He made a snowball, and flung it at the Changewing. The ball of packed snow split apart when it hit, and the dragon's attention turns to Toothless, and he is not amused.

Realizing what he had just done, Toothless turned and tried to run, but the Changewing jumped and caught him under his claw. Toothless managed to turn around enough to look the dragon in its eyes. Fear spread through Toothless like a venom, this is what Hiccup was saying. This dragon no longer had the ability to act on its own accord, it only listened to Drago's orders now. The Changewing took a deep breathe, preparing to fire at point blank range. With no visible way to escape, Toothless closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain that was about the come.

Only for a sky splitting roar to echo across the heavens.

* * *

 **Author's Note: So... that got a little intense towards the end.**

 **1) Opinion:**

 **Oh My Gods, this was so hard to write! I had like a million ideas about how it would go, so many that I had to give a cliffhanger and turn the rest of this chapter into a it's own chapter (not a second part or anything, it's own official chapter.) Originally, this was going to be about the girls, with Astrid getting mad at the twins for pulling of a dangerous prank and Ruff getting angry, but no matter what I came up with, it made Astrid seem kind of like a perfectionist. Then it was going to be Snotlout who had to be rescued, but I scrapped that when I wrote something that made him kinda, (GRABS A SCRIPT AND READS OFF IT) "Discriminatory against women." Then there was Gobber, but that was _way_ to hard. So I decided to go with Hiccup and Toothless fighting and the gang going to save Hiccup, with Toothless having guilt issues.**

 **2) Notes**

 **{1} This chapter was kinda backstory heavy. First was Sharpshot (personally I felt this was the most necessary, since I hadn't really explained why he wanted to be Hiccup's dragon. So he's the middle kid in a large family, which is no fun), then Skrill Chiller (keep note of that, it's going to be mentioned again at some point) and then the Bewilderbeast, (which made me shed a few tears).**

 **{2} So, Cloudjumper's got a problem with being called "Cloud", and he's got a little secret that I think we all know. But remember, only he and Valka know the truth. And a little inside tidbit for next the next chapter, a hint about what they did will be revealed.**

 **{3}That's a paraphrasing of the Shakespeare quote, "Cowards die many times before their death, the valiant never taste of death but once." Ironically, it was Julius Caesar who said that line, and in his words "E turn, Brutus?"**

 **{4} (Brain Explodes) Who saw _that_ coming? Yeah, that'll be explained next update.**

 **3) Announcements**

 **My spring break is coming up, so hopefully the next chapter will be up quicker then this one was. Also, the fairy O/C's I've been mentioning in previous notes will be appearing at the end of the next chapter, however their names and appearances will not be revealed (TROLL). Sorry to disappoint those who wanted to now what they look like or even their names, but I'm keeping that a secret for now. Anyway, the hint is for the purple fairy: From the old Arabian Nights, this creature was sealed in a lamp, forced to grant the wishes of its master.**

 **See you next time**

 **PurifierofChaos13100**

 **Reviews are appreciated**

 **Posted: April 15, 2016**


	10. Chapter 8 (Eye of the Storm)

_Chapter 8: Eye of the Storm_

 _Haddock Animal Rescue and Shelter_

"You sure I can take tomorrow off Ms. Haddock?" "I'll be okay Lacey, you've earned a day off. Besides, I'd rather spend all day working myself to the bone than have you miss your brother's wedding," Valka said to her employee. "Thanks for being so understanding," Lacey said as picked up her purse and began to leave the front door, before stopping. "Oh, and I've been meaning to ask, where has Henry been lately, I haven't seen him pop by in a while." Valka considered not saying anything, but instead went with, "He signed up to be an exchange student at his school. He's in Barcelona, enjoying the sights and Spanish culture."

"Huh, I didn't know his school had an exchange program." Valka flinched a little, she was hoping Lacey wouldn't ask any more questions. "Well, their trying it out. If it doesn't work then they'll forget they even tried setting it up." "Okay, but wouldn't it be a good idea to try it out before sending students to foreign countries?" "Oh look at that, it's seven o'clock already? Well, I wouldn't want you to spend the whole wedding sleep deprived," Valka said as she walked over to the door and opened it. "Now go back home and take a good rest dear, and the next time I go to a P.T.A meeting, I'll be sure to bring that up." Trying not to look weirded out by her boss's strange want for her to leave as soon as possible, Lacey said goodbye, and walked out of the building.

As soon as Lacey got in the car, Valka closed the door, and let out a sigh of relief. "That was close." She walked behind the front desk, in front of a door that said, "EMPLOYEES ONLY" and opened it. The Shelter was a long, rectangular building. It was only one floor with a few hospital like rooms for nursing the animals brought in. Nothing special, but people kept bringing in local wild animals that had gotten themselves injured, or caught in traps set up by hunters. The animals ranged from small rabbits to foxes to injured birds, it was just an average place. Although, there was one time when a baby tiger got out of its cage at the local zoo and it wondered into the forest just outside of town, and it had to be brought in after almost losing its leg to a bear trap.

The room she walked into was her own personal office, a desk near a window, a book shelf with books on different animals filling it, and a cabinet on the right wall of roughly the same size. Closing the door behind her, Valka let out another sigh, before coughing fiercely. In the few weeks since she had last seen her son, the strange illness that she had contracted had gotten better, allowing her to go back to work, but there was still a day or two were she bed ridden. She went over to her desk, and took a key out of the top right draw. The key was a small, metal object, shaped like a warrior's axe. Going over to the cabinet, she placed the key into the lock, and opened the doors. Despite the cabinet's sturdy appearance, it was actually hollow, and built into the wall, with a tunnel entrance/exit inside. Making sure that the doors closed behind her, Valka began to go down the tunnel, going deep underground.

After going about fifty feet below the surface, Valka emerged from the tunnel, and entered a large, beautiful underground cavern. Jutting from the ground and connecting to the ceiling were hexagon and polygon basaltic rock formations. Many different plant species filled the cavern, from the green lichen that clung to the rock, to ferns that established a foot hold in the steps of the tunnel and ground. At the northern most tip of the cave was a waterfall, which fed into a pool at the center of cavern, about a third of the cavern's size, with water flowing out that fed out into an underground stream that went out to sea. In the center of the cavern, close to the ceiling was a large orb of light that acted as a substitute sun giving life and light to the place. The lake was directly under it, the heat warming the waters to a sort of semi-hot spring. Now, Valka wasn't alone, no, in fact it was just the opposite. The cave was filled with dragons.

There were over a dozen dragons, enough to start a small squadron of dragon riders, each bearing a different colored gemstone on their neck. The cavern was were Valka kept all the dragons she had bonded with when she 'left home' underground because, well, if the average person saw a real life dragon up close and the had to choose between trying to talk to it or calling the government to look it up and subjecting it to highly painful tests, what do you think they would do? Apart from Cloudjumper, most of them lived here, only going topside for routine checkups. When that happens, the gems on the dragons' necks would transform them into normal animals that lived on Earth, apart from Cloudjumper, who had the willpower to change his form on his own.

Valka felt something rubbing against her, and turned to see a dragon nuzzling her. "And how are you doing today Gruff," she said as she rubbed the dragons head. Gruff was a Hobblegrunt that had gone blind after a very traumatic incident not long before they met. Despite his handicap, Gruff was still able to live a happy life, due to the frill on his head being sensitive to just about everything. "I'm fine ma'am. I was waiting for you to visit today." Valka smiled at Gruff's words, the dragon had always seen her as a sisterly figure for helping him adapt to his blindness when it was still new. "Well, I'm sorry I took so long, Lacey was getting a little nosey." They walked over to the lake, and sat down near the edge. "What did she ask about?" "She wanted to know where Hiccup's been lately." "Doesn't she know to not snoop around other people's business," came another, but female, voice.

Thump, a pale green Raincutter with red spots, who had lost part of her wing after being caught in a landslide, sat down next to them and took a sip of water from the lake. "In her defense Thump, she was only curious, and Hiccup has been gone for over a month," Valka said in her employee's defense. "Well even so, she should have just accepted an answer and left," Thump said with an irritated expression. "Now I don't think you should be so hard on her, she did help you after the whole "tail twister' incident." The 'tail twister' incident end with her breaking her leg and Lacey helping to fix it. "Right, sorry," Thump said, a little ashamed, usually she was a grateful dragon, and Valka had all the worm and grub gifts to prove it. "It's okay," Valka said as she rubbed the side of Thump's head, "And, to be fair, she was asking too many questions. I didn't think I could come up with that many excuses." A panting sound came over and Lump, a blue and red colored Snafflefang, who lost his leg in a fight with a Monstrous Nightmare, sat down, bumping Gruff out of the way. "Did you bring me a snack," Lump asked like a dog asked for a treat. "Of course Lump," Valka said. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small geode. She held it in her hand in front of Lump, who sniffed it with interest, "Oooh, quartzite," and he began to chew on the geode like it was a bone.

"Do you think your son is okay," Gruff asked nervously. Valka looked at the lake water, her eyes trying not to tear up. In truth, she knew how he was doing, her friends in the Archipelago had informed her of how he was doing. He had already gotten two out of the eleven Dragon Gems, got some dragons of his own, gained a crush on a Hofferson his age, (she couldn't stop smiling when she heard that part), and was enjoying himself. But, she was still concerned about him, he was her only child after all. She looked back at Gruff, wiping what were the beginnings of tears away, and said "Of course, he'll be alright," and rubbed neck. "So, you don't-" "Think that Hiccup will-" "Be upset if he-" "Finds out the truth-" "About his father," said another set of voices. Valka and the dragons looked in front of them and saw a purple and gold Seashocker in the lake, both of its heads staring at her curiously. "Zapper, Shocker, maybe you shouldn't talk about that," Gruff said, trying to whisper it. Thump and Lump nodded in agreement, "You know that 'he' is a sour subject," said Lump, with Thump following up with, "Besides, Hiccup has no hint about who 'he' is, so maybe he won't find out about 'him'. Right Valka?"

But Valka had already left the shore of the lake and went to check on her other dragons, so she didn't hear their conversation. "Way to go," Zapper said. "Me? You were the one who decided to bring her husband up!" "Alright, could we please stop this," Gruff asked politely, trying to stop his friends and fellow dragons from fighting. "Alright, we'll stop," the two heads said at once, Gruff giving a sigh of relief. Lump went back to chewing on his rock, and Thump went over to the affectionately dubbed 'mud spot' to for a snack, while Gruff stayed behind. "But, just curious-" "Why didn't she ever tell Hiccup about his father?" "You guys know that she wanted to stay with her family back home, but she didn't want to risk Hiccup's survival and even if she wanted to go back, there was no way she could at the time. Do you think he would believe that his father is a dragon-riding Viking?" The two heads looked at each other, and Zapper said, "Well, what if he did believe it?" "I don't know, she didn't say why, but she probably has a reason." Zapper and Shocker decided to go, and went back underwater, while Gruff curled up to take a nap. "Still, why didn't she tell him," was all he said before falling asleep. **{1}**

* * *

 _The Core_

Before the Changewing could fire, a powerful sound filled the air, and the armored dragon was pushed against the snow. Toothless opened his eyes to see what had happened, and saw, very surprisingly, Stoick riding a Thunderdrum, circling them from above **{2}**. The Changewing stood up again, only for a Rumblehorn to ram into it. The dragon was flung into an ice mound, back against the frozen water, and fell on its side. Stoick landed next to the relieved Toothless, Skullcrusher walking up next to his rider and growling at the Changewing, the Thunderdrum, Thornado, doing the same. The Changewing got back on its feet, and faced his opponents. He snarled, and prepared to leap at them, only for Gobber and Grump to fall on it, leaving the dragon unable to move.

"Looks like we got here just in time," Thornado said loudly, with everyone having to cover their ears. "Would you please stop shouting," Grump mumbled, barely awake. "I'm not shouting, we Thunderdrums are hard of hearing remember. If I was shouting I would have just roared." "Okay we get it, you guys are very loud," Snotlout shouted, still covering his ears. Stoick dismounted Thornado, Gobber doing the same with Grump, and the two men looked at the teens. "What you were thinking, I explicitly said to _not_ jump into that vortex," Stoick said harshly. The teens walked up to Stoick, and looked down at the ground as he scolded them for their disobedience.

"To be fair chief, I was pushed in," Fishlegs said, but a quick glance from Stoick told him he was still in trouble. Toothless walked over to Stoick, and said, "Look, Chief, I get that they disobeyed orders, but if it was someone you cared about, wouldn't you want to save them?" Stoick's expression faltered for a moment, before regaining his composure and said, "We'll discuss your punishments later right now we should be focused on finding Hiccup." Toothless was a bit taken back by how quickly Stoick's attitude had changed, what he said had probably hit Stoick in a sour spot, and odds are it was about his disappeared wife. "Grate' now then, how do we find ta' lad," Gobber asked.

"I say we sleep on it," Grump said, his eyes practically closed. "Tha's ya' answer ta' everthin' ya' overgrown sausage," Gobber said, not amused by Grump's laziness. "I say we keep walking until the answer comes to us," Tuffnut suggested. "That is the worst idea you've ever had, and that's saying something." "Hey!" "To be fair Tuff, you do come up with some dumb ideas," Fishlegs agreed with Ruffnut. "May I offer a suggestion please," said Trancemare, not looking amused at the obliviousness of the others. "Well, can't be any worse than one of Snotlout's ideas," Hookfang muttered. "I don't think that's a good idea, are we sure it's even a good one," Astrid said, un-surety clear in her voice. "Look Hofferson, just because you have a problem with one of my kind doesn't excuse your attitude towards all of us, you little brat." "What was that?!"

"Okay Astrid, you have a problem with Flightmares, you need to get too worked up about it, please," Fishlegs said trying to keep a fight from breaking out. Because of what happened to her Uncle Finn, Astrid had a bit of a grudge against Flightmares, and Trancemare was no exception. The colorful Flightmare didn't like this one bit, seeing as how the Hofferson girl had no problem distrusting her. In fact, when Ruffnut had first trained her, Astrid was amongst the first to vote getting rid of her. **{3}** "Anyway, I say we hear the idea so we can just please save Hiccup and get out of here," Windwalker said, not keeping it a secret that he was scared of the Core, and anything to do with Drago Bludvist.

"Thank you, I do love hearing the sensible dragon talk" Trancemare said, her angered expression disappearing, "I think we are all forgetting that we have at least one dragon with a sense of smell powerful enough to track Hiccup." Everyone 'oh'd in realization that Stormfly or Skullcrusher could have been tracking Hiccup this whole time. "Well then it's a good thing we brought this," Stoick said, as he reached into the bag attached to Thornado's saddle, and pulled out the Dragon Blade. He motioned over to Skullcrusher, who took in the sword's scent with a powerful sniff. "We're going the wrong way," the Rumblehorn said. "We should have been going in that direction," he said as he turned his head left, out to the blackened sea that filled the Core. "My guess is that Drago expected someone to go and try to find Hiccup, so he had some dragons go the wrong way, and had our friend over here eliminate whoever came down, isn't that right," he asked the Changewing harshly. "Well, it looks like Rumblehorns do have a brain under all that weight after all," the Changewing said, insulting Skullcrusher. Skullcrusher was about to stomp on the dragon's head, if it wasn't for Fishlegs. "Okay, so now we know where Hiccup is, my vote is that we go and get him as quickly as possible." Skullcrusher backed down, but not before giving the Changewing a look that said he wasn't finished with him yet.

"So, how about we GO, now," Snotlout said impatiently as he jumped on Hookfang. "Alright, we can go," Stoick said, getting back on Thornado. "I suggest everyone summons their strongest dragon, so if we get into any trouble we can end it quickly," Thornado said. "Oh, would you please, oh, that's actually a good idea," Snotlout said, once he realized Thornado was talking sense. "Actually, it might not be such a good idea, seeing as how Drago might take the chance to take our dragons," Fishlegs pointed out. "I say we take a vote," Tuffnut suggested, "All those in favor of Thornado's idea, raise your hand, claw, wing or paw." Everyone voted in favor of Thornado's suggestion. "So, without further ado-" Snotlout began before Sharpshot pointed something else out. "What do we do about the Changewing?" "Oh come on, you couldn't let me have one moment!?" "Snotlout, would you stop complaining," Astrid agitatedly said. "You guys go on a head an' leave tha' dragon ta' ol' Gobber," the blacksmith said with a hint of a mad gleam in his eye.

Astrid, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs called on Stormfly, Torch, and the Deadly Shadow, and mounted themselves, while Toothless climbed onto Skullcrusher and took off, with Sharpshot and Windwalker flying close behind.

* * *

 _Drago's Flagship, Skygee Sea_

Hiccup couldn't believe what he just heard, Drago Bludvist, the tyrannical madman that was locked up inside the center of a world for the last three hundred years, was actually over a thousand years old, it was just too hard to believe. "WHAT?!" _"Shush, someone might hear you." "Sorry, but how is that possible?"_ The Bewilderbeast took a moment to figure out how to word this, before settling on the whole truth. _"Man and Dragon weren't always friends. There was a time, long ago, when the two were the worst of enemies. For centuries, the two fought each other in a battle that would never end, with man killing dragons to prevent them from stealing and raiding from them, and dragons killed humans to protect themselves. It seemed that the two species would never co-exist." "But what about the Alphas, couldn't they do something to stop this?" "The Alpha position was not established back then, there were packs and leaders, but no one to control all dragons. Then, one day, a large pack attacked a small village, the village was burned down, with only one survivor; Drago. Having already believed dragons to be monsters, and seeing his home destroyed, Drago vowed to take control of all dragons, to make sure that no one would ever live through what he did._

 _He spent years travelling the world, looking for ways to gain absolute control over dragons, but he always found a dead end. One day, he ran into a bunch of dragons, and a fight broke out. During the battle, he discovered a way to command dragons, intimidating them through sheer power. With his method of controlling dragons in the palm of his hand, Drago traveled from place to place stopping dragon raids and saving people. But the power corrupted him, and he chose to abandon his goal of salvation, and chose to conquer the Archipelago, with a dragon army at his command."_ Hiccup listened on with intense focus, trying to see how Drago ended up like this. _"There was one thing he couldn't avoid though, his mortality. As he was then, he couldn't conquer the world with only a small handful of dragons, and he could not avoid death. So, he based himself here, in the Core of the Archipelago, where time does not exist, and he could continue to live as he took command of the world. Over the centuries, he built his army by enslaving dragons, and forcing innocent people to serve him, and ending those who questioned him._

 _One day, his men found my egg, and brought it to him, and I already told you what happened. Then, came the fateful day, three hundred years ago, when he was sure that he could conquer the Archipelago, when he took his army to the surface. His army consisted of thousands of men and dragons, his traps and weapons were powerful, and my strength was nigh invulnerable. When he emerged, much to his shock, the war was over, and the two peoples were united." "Who stopped the war,"_ Hiccup wanted to know. _"The same person who sealed Drago away."_ "Hiccup the 1st, he ended the war too," Hiccup asked aloud. _"Yes. During his time gathering his army, the position of Alpha dragons was established, with two wicked dragons in command. Their names, I don't know, but they choose to continue the war for their own amusement, until the Warrior of Berk stopped them, and proved that the two kinds could get along. Drago was enraged, someone else having power over dragons, in any shape or form, he could not accept. So he attacked the Warrior's home, and almost completely destroyed it. Many lives were lost, including the Chieftain, the warrior's father. After that, the Warrior spent twenty-years fighting against Drago, until he came upon the spell that sealed him and his armies here. But, for the last few years, the spell has slowly been decaying, which has been allowing his forces to leave this place, but not him or his whole army. If the seal decays enough, Drago could escape the Core, and the world would be at stake once again."_

Hiccup was about to ask the Bewilderbeast if he knew anything that could help defeat Drago, but the sound of footsteps had forced him to end the conversation. _"Someone's coming, I have to go." "But-."_ Hiccup turned around to see Norbert place a kay into the cell door, and open it. "Drago's ready to see you," he said, a look of evil glee on his face. Hiccup walked out of the cell, and Norbert placed a harsh grip on his shoulder **(A/N: Just so we're clear, Hiccup is tied up, he can't move his arms)**.Hiccup winced a little, "Little harsh there." "Does it look like a care," Norbert said sarcastically. "Little tip, don't say anything to get on Drago's bad side. So don't speak at all."

Pretty soon, Hiccup was on the main deck of the ship, and he got to see another glance at Drago's army. There were almost a thousand ships in his fleet, with who knows how many dragons inside each one. Each one was loaded to the brim with traps for catching dragons, soldiers were probably doing work on each one. The insignias on the flags were like snowflakes, each one different from the last, but the one on this ship was the same one that was on the armor of his enslaved dragons, two axes forming an 'x'. Above, armored dragons flew around, some landing on the floating ice that hovered above. Though it was a little hard to see, the eyes of the dragons glowed shades of black, purple and dark blue, just like the sky. On the ship itself, traps were scattered across the deck, with men hulling carts of weapons. On the side, Eret and Dagur were looking smug, no doubt enjoying the sight of him trapped. And there, sitting on a throne as black as the sea in this retched place, was Drago Bludvist. After Hiccup was brought about ten feet in front of Drago, Norbert forcefully set Hiccup into a kneeling position. "Release him," Drago said, to which Norbert replied. After he let go of Hiccup, Norbert went off to the side with Eret and Dagur. "This is gonna be good," Dagur chuckled sinisterly.

Drago got off his throne and walked to Hiccup. He looked at the boy, not saying anything. "Nice place you've got, I see you were going for an 'eternal nightmare' kind of look. You succeeded," Hiccup said, trying to alleviate the bleak situation. Drago still didn't speak, instead he continued to observe Hiccup, a look of indifference stained on his face. He stopped right in front of Hiccup, and finally spoke in a low voice. "Well Final Rider, it seems we finally have the chance to get a proper introduction. "Really" Hiccup cut him off. "Do you not remember the day I arrived, you invaded my dreams, tried to have twiddle-dee and twiddle-dumb over there try to bring me here, ring a bell?" On the side, Dagur whispered to his fellow Trappers "Oh, he is so dead." Drago didn't find the joke funny, he just keep looking at him with indifference. He gave a dark chuckle, before saying, "So, this is the one destined to stop me. What shame your family must feel." Hiccup was taken back a bit, whether or not Drago actually knew about his life back on Earth, either way, he was trying to rattle him. Attempting to stay strong, Hiccup tried to keep his cool.

"Well, thanks for the concern about my home life, but that's not your concern. Let's change the subject to why there aren't any air-fresheners her, it smells like the inside of a goat," he quipped. Norbert chuckled a bit, before Drago gave him a look to shut him up. "No one thinks you're funny kid." "Oh admit it, you found it funny, and let's be honest, I probably just made your day." Drago continued to look unimpressed with Hiccup's sarcasm. "Well, you really don't like any being happy do you," he said, Drago starting to look irritated. "You can joke all you want, but in the end, I will be standing victorious, and in command of this world, for I am the God of Dragons, destined to rule man and dragon a like," Drago said, his voice filled with ego and pride. "Yeah, well your still trapped here, and with the incompetence of your hence men, I'd say you need another three hundred years, give or take a decade or two." "Really, because I seem to remember me bringing you down here in the first place," Dagur called from the side, only for Norbert to say, " _I_ was the one who built the device that brought him here," Norbert said, sounding annoyed at Dagur, and proud in his inventions. Long story short, they started punching each other until Eret broke it up, and he rolled his eyes at the antics of is co-workers.

"Oh yes, you really are a threat," Hiccup said sarcastically. Drago chuckled once again, this time like he had actually found something funny. "Well then, it's time you see why I am the God of Dragons," he said, before walking back to his throne. He grabbed his weapon, which was leaning on the structure, and raised it. A few minutes later, a small group of his soldiers came over to him, with an unconscious Monstrous Nightmare tied up in a cart. The dragon began to wake and the men started to panic. "Drop the ropes," Drago said, sounding prideful and confident. The men back away, leaving the spotlight on a ferocious beast and a dragon as well. The Nightmare looked at Drago, and then, with a ferocious look, spit fire in his direction, as if to say he wouldn't go down. But just as the flames reached him, the stopped before making contact. Hiccup was shocked, until he noticed something that was more disconcerting. The cloak that Drago was wearing, the one he had always been seen with, was made of dragon scales. The scales on the cloak blocked the flames, allowing Drago to walk through them effortlessly. He started screaming like a mad animal, and waved his weapon in the air. The Nightmare, fear filling its eyes, back down, and bowed its head down. A triumphant, evil smile on his face, Drago put his foot down (literally) on the dragon's snout. A small puff of smoke escaped from the dragon's nostrils as it submitted to Drago. "You belong to me now."

Hiccup was, a little underwhelmed. "That's it?" "Yes that's it," Eret said, "pretty overwhelming isn't it?" A small part of Hiccup felt he only said that to stay on Drago's good side (if he even had one, and not just a photogenic one). Speaking of which, the madman looked back at him, as if to gloat about his ability. "Now you see why I am destined to rule all dragons." "Um, to be honest I'd be a lot more terrified if your voice didn't go up like five octaves and didn't sound like Animal. **{4}** " The men on the side gasped in shock. "Yup, the kid has a death wish," Eret whispered, actually sounding concerned for Hiccup. Drago scowled at Hiccup, he pointed his weapon back at the Nightmare while keeping his attention on him. Drago closed his eyes, only for them to blink open again, but now they looked downright demonic. His pupils become slits, so thin that it looked like light could never enter, the color changed to a venomous purple. A dark aura surrounded him, and the power he had visualized as black electricity surging around him. He turned his head to the Nightmare, the poor thing whimpering in pain, but that quickly turned into shrieks of pain. Drago's dark power moved from the staff to the Nightmare, the madman's gaze was cold careless. As more and more of the dark force surrounded it, the dragon started to disappear in to it. Once only the outline of the Monstrous Nightmare was only visible, it became quiet, and its eyes snapped to reveal a darkened purple glow, the same as the Changewing the others had encountered. The dragon's whole body became visible, but know it was wearing armor, the same one worn by the ones Drago had enslaved.

Hiccup was shocked, the words disappearing from his throat like a leaf in the wind. Drago smirked once again, triumphant in his actions. "How can you do this," Hiccup said, finally managing to speak, "That dragon is innocent." "Nothing is innocent, these beasts are all the same, selfish, evil creatures who only care about themselves." "Why are you doing this, what did dragons ever do to you," Hiccup asked, having already known most of the story, but he needed to be sure that it was the whole story, and that nothing was missing. Drago stared at Hiccup, and moved the part of his cloak draping over his left arm, to reveal an entire metal arm, attached to his body. Hiccup, once again, couldn't find the words. "These beast destroyed, everything I'd ever had. My family, my home, every inch of my village burned, and if the memories weren't enough, one of them decided to give me a permanent reminder. I spent years, living in fear, before I realized, if these beasts enjoy the taste of power, then use that against them," he explained, walking around the ship like a vulture, "They bowed at my feet, obeyed my every whim, commanding them to attack their own, it was glorious. And I realized, this was to be my _destiny_ , to bring an end to their tyranny. I spent centuries, gathering my forces, waiting for the right moment to end that pointless battle, to become mankind's savior, the God amongst men, the only one to control the beast called dragons.

But then, _He_ , appeared." Judging by the tone of his voice, Hiccup assumed Drago was talking about Hiccup the First, and having already heard from the Bewilderbeast this part of the story, it didn't end well. "He, had convinced people, to give up fighting those, those demons, and to make peace with them. They had gone mad, thinking that the beasts that had spent centuries fighting against could be through such frivolous means like 'friendship' and 'compassion.' I made my choice, that if men would believe dragons were good, then they do not deserve to exist. For twenty years, I spent fighting those wicked men and the devils the rode. I was winning, until _he_ used the Dragon Gems and that sword to seal me in here for the last three hundred years. **{5}** " Drago sat on his throne, and faced Hiccup, who could only say, "So why did you bring me here?" The tyrant gave a simple huff, and said, "To see if you really are the threat destined to bring me down, first of all, and to give you a onetime offer." "I'm listening," Hiccup said, not really sure he would like where this was going.

"I know you are from another world, but just to be clear, I have no intention on conquering it, this world is the only one I have my eyes on. I'm going to give you a choice, in exchange for the Dragon Gems you have acquired, the Dragon Blade, and all the dragons you command, I will send you back there. I'll even take away all the memories you have of this place, so you may not worry of what happens once I am free." Hiccup knew there was a catch, there always is a catch with these kinds of deals. "But," _"Called it."_ "If you don't accept this offer," Drago smiled darkly, "Well, my dragons haven't been feed in a long time, I'm sure even a toothpick like you will be able to make a decent meal. So, what will it be?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Okay, gonna take a quick break here before we continue.**

 **Just when we were back to the two updates a month routine, this tough nut to crack comes up. So many things to figure out, what to add, what not to add, it's a real pain to write. But, I'm not here to bore you with that. And, so I don't miss anyone's prior to this, I'll clarify the notes I added.**

 **1) Think of this place as a miniature version of the Bewilderbeast Sanctuary, just underground. I didn't specifically say how many dragons lived there, because somehow the Rise of Berk app will find a way to add more, so, I only gave the three more recognizable dragons from the second film some lines, and introduced them, while giving different explanations about how they got their injuries and handicaps. And just to be clear, "Zapper" and "Shocker" are just what I am calling one of the Seashockers, I had to give them names, and those were the only two I could come up with. Also, it seems that Hiccup was the reason Valka left, it's a pretty simple guess as to why.**

 **2) Stoick has Thornado as well, but rest a sure, an explanation is coming up (Audience Member: Oh that's nice) in the one-shots (Same Member: Aww)**

 **3) The characters are capable of having multiple dragons, I need to give some kind of backstory or insight into the dragons' past, so odds are that little bits of information like that while be around again.**

 **4) That's just my personal opinion. If a 7-foot tall guy with a metal arm, scars, a menacing cloak and a constant look of evil came at me screaming and holding a weapon in a dark alley at night (or a brightly lit one, in the middle of the day) I would probably be scared out of my mind. But his voice goes up so high, I can barely take it seriously some times.**

 **5) This really needs the most explanation, considering it was given from two different points of view, so, here is the backstory with no biases from either party. Drago's backstory here is not that different from the one we got from the second film, but until the third one comes out, I have to work with what I've got. So, I added some depth to it so Drago doesn't seem kind of one-dimensional. Basically, he did lose his village to dragons, along with his arm and gain a fear of dragons. But, for the sake of a more interesting character, instead of vowing to dominate the world immediately, Drago instead decided to find a way to make sure no one ever has to go through what he did ever again. He still was afraid of them, but once he realized the whole 'intimidation' thing, the fear vanished, and he went around, saving villages. But, he wanted not just for the people of his time to never fear dragons again, but for all times, and you know, himself to never feel like that again. So, he went to the Core, and gathered his forces of man and dragon. But, over time, he let his seemingly "one of a kind dragon controlling powers" get to his head, and pretty soon he viewed himself as mankind's salvation, and that the gods chose him to be one amongst men to rule over dragons. He didn't have any problems abusing dragons, having thought that the 'evil' they were was deserving of it. But, when he came up to the surface and saw what the world had become, he was outraged, because 1) people had stopped fighting the creatures that had harmed them for centuries, 2) he still thinks that controlling dragons was his sort of 'divine right', and 3) Vikings were talking about befriending dragons, the same creatures he, and their ancestors were taught to kill. So, he choose to believe that they had become corrupted, and he only choose to conquer the Barbaric Archipelago because to him, there was no good in dragons, and that anyone who believes the opposite was a traitor to humanity. And then he lost the war, and was sealed inside the center of the planet.**

 **But, if you don't have time to read all that, here's the short version. He's got a Messiah Complex. Like I said, this backstory is just so Drago's character isn't so one-dimensional. I still think he was just absolutely evil from the moment he was born though.**

 **Okay, enough of this, back to the plot.**

* * *

As was expected, Hiccup refused the offer. Dagur and Norbert put him back in his cell, and in one hour, he was to be feed to Drago's enslaved dragons. "Well, Hiccup, looks like this is the end for you," Dagur said, no doubt getting a thrill out of this whole situation. "I'm betting they go after his leg first," Norbert said, equally excited. "Me two, it'll be no fun if they take off his head first." "Do you two mind, I think Drago will need you to help prepare for the fun," Skrill Chiller said, probably just trying to get rid of the two whack-jobs. "Good point, come on kid, maybe if we get there first, we get to rile up the dragons." "Good idea," the Berserker said with sadistic pleasure, "But first," he grabbed his sword, and summoned his Skrill. "Make sure he doesn't get any ideas," Dagur commanded. The dragon growled softly, but said nothing. "Good. Now what are we just standing here for, we got dragons to make angry." The Berserker and Hysteric Vikings left the dungeon, leaving Hiccup alone with the two dragons.

"Snow Wraith." "Skrill." "Well it seems you two don't get along," Hiccup said, stating the obvious. "He is just being dramatic because I am named after a legendary figure who hunted down his kind," Skrill Chiller said, sounding a little snobbish at that last part. "It's not my fault you were named after that fraud," the Skrill muttered. Hiccup began to notice something, every dragon he'd seen, apart from the Snow Wraith also present, had glowing eyes in addition to the armor they were wearing. Despite that, the Skrill's eyes were relatively the same as they were on the surface. Curious as to why, Hiccup asked if there was something that caused that. "For a smart boy, sometimes you can be as clueless as those two twins you hang out with," the Skrill said rudely. "Once a dragon is enslaved, their eyes will glow that freaky, evil color, at least down here, on the surface it doesn't show though. But despite his lack of a heart or soul or a conscious or good side or morals or, anything good really, he is willing to not forcibly take over a dragon's mind if they willingly submit to them. I guess even he can be persuaded by begging," the Skrill explained. "Is that why Drago didn't enslave you when you begged," Hiccup asked Skrill Chiller, who all but shouted, "I told you to forget about that!"

"You told him your sob story about saving that wimpy brat Eret, oh, that's rich," the Skrill said as he burst out laughing. "One more word out of you, Icebane **{6}** , and they'll change your name to 'stain on the wall'." "I'm sorry, it just so amusing how you care about him, yet he doesn't give an arm or a leg about you," the Skrill said as he stopped laughing. "Believe me, you would have been better off on whatever ice pit you lived on. Why would you want to spend the rest of your life listening to a human bossing you around?" Hiccup was starting to see why these two didn't get along, beside the whole name thing. The two had very, _very_ , different views when it came to human partners. Skrill Chiller clearly cares for Eret, and is willing to give up his freedom for the smug Trapper, but the Skrill, Icebane apparently, didn't really care for things such as that. "But if that's true, why are you working with Dagur," Hiccup pointed out. "Oh please, it's less 'working with each other' and more 'using each other,'" Icebane started. "The only reason I decided to go along with that lunatic Berserker is so I can fight other dragons, and prove I am the strongest. As for my 'rider'" Icebane said that last part with disgust, "He only joined Drago's forces to get rid of his father."

"You mean Oswald the Agreeable?" "Yeah him. Most of the Berserkers respect him for his peacefully tactics and not going, well," "Berserk." "Yes, that. Except Dagur, the kid has a desire for violence and war as big as a mountain and the patience of a Monstrous Nightmare. He isn't planning on staying with Drago's Army forever though. The kid thinks that as soon as the fleet escapes the Core, he can go off on his own, take over the Tribe, and maybe even attempt to replace Drago as head of the Army. Five flocks of sheep he gets thrown to the sharks. As for the Hysteric, he's only doing this because he's afraid to leave Drago's command, since the tribe has been loyal to him for as long as they've been stuck in this rat hole." "For a Viking Chief, the man has no backbone," Skrill Chiller muttered. "For once, I agree with the ice lizard over there," Icebane said, the Snow Wraith giving him an unamused look. "One last thing I need to know," Hiccup said, Icebane giving an eye roll. "Didn't anyone tell you curiosity killed the cat kid?" "Just let the boy ask his question spark brain," an annoyed Skrill Chiller said under his breath.

"Just, one final question, that's all I'm asking for," Hiccup said, clearly wanting to ask something. "Fine, I guess we've got time." "Thank you. Now, why is it that you and Toothless have this whole aggressive attitude towards each other," he asked. He remembered his first day on Berk, when Toothless said that Night Furies and Skrills were naturally aggressive to each other, but there seemed to be something else. "Your Night Fury is the first one seen in three centuries, and they have always been a powerful kind, as have mine. As I said, I wish to be the strongest, and as my natural rival, along with being the partner to the Final Rider, the only way I can do that is to defeat him in a true battle, a glorious fight between the two of us, that we'll be song in the depths of Valhalla until Ragnarok comes as the battle of the gods rages-"

At this point, Icebane just started rambling about fighting Toothless, so Skrill Chiller covered his ears to get some sleep, and Hiccup walked over to the cell window, the dragon to busy talking to notice him leaving. Hiccup stuck his head through the bars and he stared out into the ice covered wasteland that was the Core. Despite the squawking and growling of dragons above, the sounds of the cold sea water, and the shouting of men, Hiccup was still able to think clearly about one person: Toothless. He had told himself that the brave black cat was trying to find him, but there was still the chance he wasn't coming. After all, as far as he knew, Toothless hadn't forgiven him, and frankly, Hiccup didn't blame him. When he woke up this morning, he was absolutely furious at him, and to be totally honest, a part of him only wanted to apologize because everyone else was basically telling him to. But know, he was in a cell, on a ship, in the center of an entire planet, waiting to be feed to dragons, with no way of knowing if his best friend was even bothering to care.

* * *

The many ships that made up Drago's Fleet came in to view, and the Berkians soon saw how massive Drago's army was. They landed on a large iceberg, close enough to see men moving around the ships, but far enough away to avoid being spotted, with Stoick un-summoning Thornado to avoid the Thunderdrum accidently giving away their position. "Alright, they should be keeping Hiccup on the flagship right at the center of the fleet," Skullcrusher explained, sounding quite sure of himself. "Are you sure," Stoick questioned. "Stoick, you've known me for twenty years, have I ever been wrong about this kind of thing?" "So, how are going to infiltrate these aquatic vessels to liberate the person in question," Patience said, the twins' expressions screaming 'what did he just say'. "Would you like me to dumb it down?" "No, no, we got it. But if you want to do it for those who didn't, you're more than welcome to," Tuffnut clearly lied. "I think he's asking how we're going to break into the ships and free Hiccup," Fishlegs explained.

"What we need is a plan that doesn't end up with thousands of angry, snapping, brainwashed dragons attacking us, well, hopefully not" Sharpshot said. "Leave this one to me guys, I'll come up with a plan so amazing, Drago won't 'now what hit him," Snotlout boasted. "We're dead," Hookfang deadpanned. "Hey, who's in charge here?" Next thing Snotlout knew, he was blowing on his hands to cool them off. "What if I just use magic on us," Ruff suggested. "I say that's the worst idea you've ever had, I hereby disown you," Tuff says, being, well, Tuff. "No, that's a great idea. Ruff, if you cast an invisibility spell, we'll be able sneak around without getting noticed," Astrid rationalized. "Welcome back to the family sis." Arrogance rolled his eyes at the twins' antics. "I knew these two would be baggage they moment I first saw them." "Could we please hurry up, all those cages down there are bringing up some bad memories," Windwalker said, looking at the deck of the closest ship, the mere sight of cages no doubt reminding him of his time as captive of the Grimborn brothers.

"Windwalker's right, we need to get Hiccup out of there now," Toothless said, sounding dead serious about freeing his friend. "Well, glad to see you're feeling better," Sharpshot said, noticing the change in Toothless' behavior. "Look, I've come to terms that what happened here today is not my fault and that Hiccup was going to be captured, but now we have to cut the small talk and save Hiccup. So, if you don't mind Ruff, can you please just cast that spell of yours?" "Hey, kitty," Torch said, clearly not amused by Toothless' rudeness, "We all want to save Hiccup, so quit the attitude." "Excuse we you glorified flamethrower," Toothless snapped back at Torch," But I don't recall asking your opinion, so keep it to yourself." The two growled at each other, it was obvious that Toothless and Torch weren't going to get along any time soon. "Alright, break it up you two," Skullcrusher went between the two, sensing that if someone didn't, a fight would have broken out.

"Look," Fishlegs said, "You're both right. We all want to save Hiccup, and arguing like this is wasting time." "So, if anyone else has something to say before I can, you know, use magic to help us, be my guest," Ruffnut said, her tone suggesting she was tired of sitting around doing nothing as well. "Alright, now you can do it lass." As soon as Stoick gave her the all go, Ruff cast her spell, _"Ute av syne, Ute av sinn,"_ but nothing happened. She tried saying the words again, but nothing happened still. "I don't think magic works down here," Innocence stated. "You think," Hookfang said in the driest sarcastic voice ever. "Great, just great, what do we do now," Snotlout complained. "I say we just go in dragons blazing." "What part of 'we need a plan that doesn't end with thousands of angry, snapping, brainwashed dragons attacking us,' did you not understand," Sharpshot reminded the Thorston boy. "So what, we can take 'em," Arrogance boasted. "I'm with three heads over there," Hookfang said, starting to flame up. "Typical, the 'Snotmare' wants to rush in," an unamused Trancemare said, rolling her eyes.

"Snotmare," Snotlout and Hookfang shouted. "I kind of like that," Hookfang snorted at his rider's approval of the insulting nickname. "Look you glorified firefly-" "Can we please just stop so we can go back to our rescue plan," Patience said. "I agree, we can't waste any more time on these discussions," said Stoick, taking charge of the whole conversation. "Now, who has an idea, there are no wrong ones." As if on cue, the twins let forth a rapid fire burst of ideas. "Start attacking the ships will another group sneaks on board to rescue Hiccup?" "Get the dragons fighting so we can go unnoticed?" "Song and dance number?" "To obvious, to risky, and why would we start singing for no reason," Stoick shoot down all the twins' ideas. "I've got! We knock out some Trappers, put on their clothes and search," Tuffnut said in with Eureka moment. "Okay, that could work," Fishlegs started, "But how do we make sure that the Trappers we take from don't tell anyone we're here?" "Leave that to me, I have a way with make sure people stay quiet," Trancemare said, a hint of pleasure on her face.

Gobbed and Grump came flying down, Grump still half asleep. "So, wha' we miss," Gobber asked. "Well, after spending forever arguing, we may have found a way in," Torch summarized the events of the conversation. "Hey Gobber," Ruffnut began, "What did you do to that Changewing?" "well, lass ya' see," Gobber said, sounding as if he was trying to find the right words. "He whacked the Changewing with his mace hand, knock the evil thing right out cold," Grump cut off. "Gobber you didn't," Astrid said, sounding concerned that the blacksmith would do such a thing. "Don't get ya' skivvies in a twist people, he's alive, I only hit tha' thing hard enough to send it back to tha' Stables." "Great," came Toothless' voice, "Now, let's save Hiccup."

* * *

Long story short, the group successfully took some Trapper's attire from a small ship that was coming back with dragons, with Trancemare paralyzing them, as well as being locked below deck, to make sure they didn't escape. They made it to the flagship, their dragons as Krystals (apart from Sharpshot and Windwalker) to avoid suspicion. Once they arrived, Fishlegs handed everyone a small, axe shaped key. "Fancy, but I don't think these will help," Tuff commented, "I see these as more of a collecting thing, you know, get as many as you can, trade with other people, but help with this insanely awesome plan, no." "They're not ordinary keys, they're Infi-Key relics, designed to open any lock no matter the size." "Oh, well in that case I want two more, you know, to up the value." "These are the only ones I have, if you lose one, you're going to have to find someone else." "Alright, remember, this is just a rescue mission, don't do anything to give yourselves away. Do you all understand?" Everyone nodded their heads, the twins took a couple seconds though, but they all understood their Chiefs orders. "Alright then, we meet back here in one hour, and if we don't find Hiccup, we come up with a new plan." The group split up, and now came the hard part: sneaking someone out of prison without being noticed.

Toothless, Windwalker and Sharpshot went together to search for Hiccup, but they had to be careful. They were the only ones not wearing any Trapper gear, for obvious reasons, and being two dragons and a cat, they would be the easiest to be spotted. So the three had to sneak around, hide under carts and stick to the shadows to avoid being spotted. Of course, it was easier said than done, Windwalker was silently cowering and muttering worries about being put in a cage again. Understandable, but he was going to actually get them caught if he didn't stop, and Toothless agreed. "Would you stop that!? If you're this worried maybe you should just leave!" Sharpshot and Windwalker were shocked at Toothless' outburst. It took him a moment before Toothless realized what he said, and looked away.

The three were hiding behind a bunch of dragon catcher traps, all of which were currently empty, waiting for the coast to be clear to move. "I'm sorry," Toothless said sheepishly, "For that, and what I said before, I'm just really worried about Hiccup." "It's okay," Windwalker said sincerely, Sharpshot nodding in agreement, although he wasn't as okay with the apology as Windwalker. "I'm just so afraid that we won't find Hiccup and that we won't find him before," he stopped, not wanting to think of what comes after the 'before' part. Sharpshot peered around the trap, "Quick, no one's here," he said, urgency in his voice, and the threesome quickly ran and hid under a cart filled with weapons. "Hey, I want to know something," Sharpshot directed at Toothless, "You said you knew Hiccup was going to be captured, but how?" Not sure how to say it, Toothless said "Hiccup's mother's pet owl visited me in a psychic dream and told me Hiccup was going to get kidnapped today," as fast as he possibly could. Sharpshot just looked at him, not hearing what was just said, but Windwalker on the other hand, seemed to understand perfectly fine. "Well how did the owl know?"

"He told me that some 'friends' were watching, and told him it would happen," Toothless said, beginning to wonder who exactly these 'friends' were. "Did he say anything else?" Toothless tried to remember if there was something else of interest that Cloudjumper had said. It was hard, considering how straightforward Cloud was with everything, but one of the last things did come to mind. "He said something about how I'd need more than just 'the Power of Fire' to stop Drago." The sound of footsteps came upon them, and the conversation came to a halt. "I thought I heard something." "Your ears are probably playin' tricks on you, we're the only ones on this part of the ship." _"If you only knew,"_ Toothless thought mischievously. The two men moved on, not even bothering to notice the trespassers next to their own feet. "Wait, I'm confused," Windwalker said after it was safe to talk again, "What's the 'Power of Fire'?" Remembering the two dragons hadn't been there when it happened, Toothless told them about how the Dragon Blade had somehow given him power when he was fighting a Bullrougher that Drago had boosted up with dark magic. He had become stronger, more powerful, and gained a now–seemingly appropriate-fire theme. The two dragons simply said, "Whoa," in amazement.

"I know, but it disappeared after the fight, and I haven't used that kind of power since," Toothless said, finishing the story. "How did you even get that power in the first place?" "Well, let me think. Hiccup, he said that he'd help stop Drago, even if it seemed impossible, or something like that," Toothless tried to remember, but how it happened weren't something he could think of off the top of his head. "Come to think of it," he said, beginning to realize something else, "The first time I turned into a Night Fury, Hiccup was holding the same sword, and he said that even though he didn't have a clue what was going on, he chose to fight Dagur and Norbert, and that he wouldn't let the Book of Dragons fall into their hands." "So, what are you saying," Windwalker asked politely, not understanding what Toothless was getting at. "Don't you see, the sword, that's the reason why I keep getting these cool new powers. Fishlegs said the Dragon Blade can transform things into a stronger form, and these so called 'Powers' Cloudjumper talked about are those forms, and somehow Hiccup is the key to unlocking them!"

Remember when it was said that Windwalker's panicking would attract some attention, well guess whose little moment of discovery get them found.

* * *

"Nice-whoa-going-gah-fur ball," Snotlout tried to shout, Hookfang's flying making it hard to get the sentence out. "In my defense, I was told the cost was all clear." "Really, you want to go there?" "Will you guys stop," Windwalker said to the two on his back. After getting caught, the alarm was sounded, signaling the presence of intruders on the ship, forcing the Berkians to break cover. Surprisingly, and thankfully, Drago didn't make a big deal about it. Instead, he ordered about four dozen dragons to attack, with men on the flagship and two surrounding ships attacking as well. You think he would have made a bigger deal out of this, but everyone decided not to tempt fate and count this as a blessing.

Armed dragons in the sky and Trappers on the ships attacked from all around, but the riders refused to go down. Torch was spinning like a storm, fire covering his body, trying to intimidate any dragon that came close. A soldier down below aimed a net launcher at the Typhoomerang, intending to take him down. But before he could fire, Trancemare flew above him, mist flowing out of her mouth, and the soldier was frozen. Stormfly flew by and released a shot of fire hit the launcher, knocking the paralyzed warrior away and destroying the weapon. Two men went to their fallen comrade, and picked him up by his arms. As they turned around, Fishlegs and the Shadow appeared, having used the dragon's camouflage ability to sneak up behind them. Before the men could react, the three headed dragon swiped their tail low, knocking the three against the deck of the ship. "That felt kind off good. Is that wrong?" "Don't ask me I'm the logical one." The dragon took flight, disappearing mid take-off.

But not everyone was fighting on dragon back. Stoick and Gobber had ended up in hand-to-hand combat against some Trappers. One swung a mace at Gobber, who effortless stepped aside, and then hit the man with his own mace. Stoick, meanwhile, was doing just as well, even throwing two men who tried rushing at him effortlessly over his shoulders. He heard the sound of someone unsheathing a sword sneak up behind him, but Stoick was faster, and he took his axe, and blocked the sword as it was coming down. Eret smirked, "Quite the reflexes you've got. Where were they when I knocked you out back on Glacier Island," he taunted. Stoick swung his axe at the Trapper, who intern blocked it with his sword. "You're gonna regret," Stoick said with a grudge. "Oh, you're still mad about that, I would have guessed that the blow also knocked some memory out of that empty head of yours. But don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

Drago watched the battle from the sidelines, observing the movements of the Dragon Riders. He had expected people to try and rescue Hiccup, and had already made a precaution to prevent that from happening. It took a **_lot_** to get him to show concern or interest, but he was not a fool. Even if they managed to free Hiccup, Drago will have still been able to observe how they fight, and that would be an invaluable piece of information. **"What is wrong with you people!? We out number them like a billion to one and they're partially winning!"** Dagur's shouting caught his attention, and he saw the Berserker on another ship yelling at other soldiers, clearly he was not impressed with the Berkians' success. Nearby, the Hysteric chief was setting up a mounted crossbow, no doubt going to try and shoot down the dragons. " **I mean, seriously-** " "If you want to win, then stop complaining and get me the Dragon Root arrows I keep in my lab," Norbert shouted back. "Because I want to see some carnage!" "Do as he says," Eret shouted in his battle with Stoick. Dagur opened his mouth to say something, but Norbert cut him off. "Do you want to help here or just stand around and let them get away?" "Fine," the Berserk teen said begrudgedly.

* * *

"What the heck is going on out there?" Hiccup had heard the sound of a fight outside, but the bars on the cell window prevented him from taking a good look. _"Your friends have come to save you, but they were caught,"_ the Bewilderbeast said telepathically. "Do you see a black cat out there too?" "Who's he talking to," Icebane whispered to Skrill Chiller, no doubt thinking Hiccup was starting to go insane from being stuck in that cell. Skrill Chiller just gave a shrug. _"I think so. Yes, I see one atop a Skyfang flying around as if it was looking for something."_ "Or someone." Windwalker was flying around looking for him. Everyone came to find him, and so did Toothless. Hiccup knew he had to get out now, so with a fierce look, he turned to face the bars, and ran right into them. The bars didn't move an inch, and the iron had hurt his shoulder. He tried again and again, yet they still refused to remove.

" _I'm coming bud, just wait,"_ Hiccup said to himself as he continued to run into the bars. As tough as the cold bars were, his resolve was tougher. Images of Toothless and himself played in his mind, from as early as their first meeting, to as recent as their arrival on Berk. From the good moments such as obtaining the first of the Dragon Gems, to the sad times such as his breakdown at Dragon Island, to the fight they had just yesterday. " _You've always been there for me, and now, it's my turn to be there for you."_ Outside the cell, the two dragons watched. Even with the lack of information, they were able to figure out what the Final Rider was attempting to do. Skrill Chiller himself was moved by Hiccup's actions. Despite the distance between them, the boy continued to try and get to his company, his friend, his brother. Skrill Chiller flashed a small smile, the first true one he had had in decades.

Hiccup was about to try and ram the bars, but to his surprise, Icebane grabbed one of them in his teeth, and ripped it out, creating a whole large enough for Hiccup to get through. "I don't-" "Unlike Dagur, I don't enjoy people hurting themselves. Besides, I want your Night Fury in top form for our next encounter," the armed Skrill said. "You already know the way out, now go." Needing no further encouragement, Hiccup stepped out of the cell, and ran to the door. "One thing though," he said after opening said door, "If anyone asks, say I got out because you fell for a Jedi Mind Trick." He closed the door behind him and ran out of the prison. "What's a Jedi," a stumped Skrill Chiller asked. Now it was Icebane's turn to shrug.

Hiccup kept running, not even bothering to look back. He saw the stairs leading up towards the deck, and dashed straight up. But the first thing he saw made his freeze right at the top. Windwalker and Sharpshot were lying on their stomachs, no doubt shot down. That wasn't the worst part, no, far from it.

The worst part, was that Toothless was flung right past him, and Drago was now looking right at him.

* * *

Toothless grunted in pain as he attempted to get up. He gazed at his fallen comrades, arrows sticking out of their hides from where they were hit. Sharpshot tried to get up, but to no avail, he simply fell right down on his underside. "These, are the dragons of the Final Rider," said a voice with no hints of impressment, Toothless turned his head, and saw Drago looking at them. Toothless froze in his tracks, he was starting to see why Cloudjumper, or whoever he was talking about when he said he had 'friends in the Archipelago' were, decided to give him a message. "Such a shame, clearly your power will never grow under his weak, pathetic, useless existence."

Now that hit a nerve. Toothless' fear quickly gave way to something, anger. Drago insulted Hiccup right to his face, and he wouldn't stand for it. "If you submit to me, I could make you far stronger than he would ever make you." "I'd rather kiss Snotlout!" Drago didn't look surprised, rather he looked disappointed, but still expected to see Toothless refuse his offer. "I will never betray Hiccup, and mark my words, you will never win." "Oh, and what makes you so sure? My army vastly outnumbers your pathetic fleet of Dragon Riders and all the tribes of the Archipelago combines no. My power will make even the Alphas bow down to me, no dragon or treacherous human will ever stand above me" Drago proclaimed, "So tell me, why will the 'Final Rider' be able to defeat me?"

"He doesn't fight for himself, he fights for the sake of others." "Is that so?" "Yes, he's not fighting just for himself, he fighting for his friends. You claim to be the one to free man kind from dragons, but you're not."

In one of the few times Drago showed emotion, he was starting to get angered by Toothless' words. "You're only doing this for power, to dominate all those who fear you, and to eliminate those who stand against you. You're pathetic." Drago's face contorted with absolute rage, his knuckles clenched so hard that they turned white. "You just want to feel like someone important. You don't want to feel useless!" It was then that Drago smacked Toothless right across his face. The force of the blow throwing him of the floor of the deck, and right at the mast of the ship.

* * *

It took Hiccup a couple of seconds to realize what had just happened. "Toothless," he shouted as he ran towards him. The cat's eyes were closed, and he grunted, no doubt being in pain from Drago's blow and the force of the impact. "Come on bud speak to me," Hiccup whispered. Toothless opened his eyes slowly, and saw Hiccup's green eyes looking at him, full of concern and worry. 'Hiccup," he said, his voice low and hurt. "I was starting to think you weren't coming for a while there." "Oh please, fight or no fight, I'd literally swim an ocean to save you," Toothless said. He tried to chuckle, but the pain in his side prevented it.

"I'm sorry bud," Hiccup said, his eyes starting to tear up. "I didn't mean what I said back on Berk." "I'm sorry too." "No, I should be the one apologizing. I was selfish, I was so concerned about my mom that I forgot about someone else I care about." "And I forgot that. You've got a lot of things on your plate, and I shouldn't have been so rude." Hiccup felt a wing on his shoulder and claws on his other. He looked away from Toothless to see that, in spite of the effects of the Dragon Root, Sharpshot and Windwalker were able to get up and move all the way here. "Can't we just agree you're both sorry," Windwalker said sympathetically. "Yeah, because if I have to hear one more sob story today, I think I'll throw up," Sharpshot joked.

The touching moment was ruined when Drago took a step towards them. "Disgusting." "Hiccup looked at Drago with the ferocity of savage lion. "It confuses me to no end. Dragon are selfish beasts that are never grateful. Men have forgotten this apparently, and it is my destiny to remind them this, even if it means conquering them all." Drago said nothing more before turning away, and grabbed his bullhook off of his throne. He waved it in the air, and shouted at the top of his lungs. Hiccup knew what this meant, that Drago was calling on one of his dragons, but he wasn't sure which one it was, at first. _"Forgive me Final Rider."_ The realization hit Hiccup faster than a boat load of rocks, Drago was calling his enslaved Bewilderbeast to finish them off.

* * *

Up in the air, Astrid and Stormfly fired spines at a bunch of archers, who ran away like children when the spines just missed hitting their legs. "How we doing?" "Hiccup's out, but he's right in front of Drago," Fishlegs shouted. "Things can't get any worse," shouted Snotlout, flying away from a fire on a ship. Naturally, things got worse.

* * *

From below the waves, the Bewilderbeast emerged. It shook the surrounding ships, almost knocking one over. Thousands of gallons of sea water ran down the dragon's scales, back into the dark ocean from whence it came. The massive dragon looked down at its master, as Drago stopped swinging his weapon, and held it in one hand. It raised its head, and roared loudly. Many dragons resting on the floating ice looked at the tortured Bewilderbeast intensely. They had spent so much time under Drago's iron fist that it was the closest thing to an Alpha that they had. The dragon turned its attention to its master, with Hiccup, Toothless and the dragons looking on in awe.

* * *

"Odin just loves proving me wrong, doesn't he?" "You make it too easy."

* * *

"This is true power. The strength of will over the weak. In the face of it, those who side with the dragons, are, nothing." Drago turned back to Hiccup and the others. "Men will bow down to me, and those who don't understand my power will-"

"No, you don't understand!" Drago stood in shock as Hiccup got up on his feet, and stared at him with the courage and resolve, only matched by one other man Drago had ever met. "Dragons are **_not_** what you say they are. They are kind, amazing creatures, that once you earn their loyalty, they will do anything for you, no matter how many times you mess up," Hiccup said, looking at Toothless when he said that last part. Toothless gave a smile, agreeing with Hiccup all the way, Sharpshot and Windwalker doing the same. "The bond between man and dragon is a powerful one, and it will always win out in the end, because it is something you will **_NEVER_** understand!"

A sound akin to the whistle of a Night Fury shriek rang out, and in the corner of his eye, Hiccup saw something come right to him, the Dragon Blade. Somehow, the sword had resonated with Hiccup's words and it flew off of Stoick's side. Letting instinct take over, Hiccup let the blade came right to him. He grabbed it, and pointed the weapon at Drago. For once in the short time he had known the madman, Drago was freaking out, as if a skeleton in his closet had come out. The stone on the hilt of the sword glowed, but this one was different. It was not the blue light that shined when Toothless transforms into a Night Fury, nor was it the fiery red that appeared when he gained the so called 'Power of Fire." This time, it was a pale, almost misty, shade of green. Everyone fighting, the Riders, Stoick, Gobber, Eret, even Norbert and Dagur, who were busy trying to shoot down the Riders, stopped what they were doing, and turned their attention to Hiccup and Drago.

Toothless felt a surge of power flow through him. He placed one leg upright, and with his new found strength, got to his feet. He began to begin his change into a dragon, his body glowing the same as the Dragon Blade. His outline quickly morphed into a Night Fury, not a single scale visible. Windwalker and Sharpshot moved away as far as they could, but the transformation was not over. Toothless opened his eyes, the forest green that they normally were became clouded, the same as the aura around him. His wings continued to grow, becoming almost as large and magnificent as a Timberjack's, with three sharp claws coming out of where they bent. The spines and his back split into two rows, and the shape changed to that of a diamond, the fins on his tail becoming the same shape. From the sides of his heads, next to the two ear like flaps, two perfectly straight horns jutted out. Another sharp horn grew out of his head, above his snout, and pointed at Drago, mimicking the Dragon Blade. The glow vanished, and this new form had unveiled itself. Toothless' once jet black scales had become pure white, with spines and tail fins become an almost transparent green. Toothless howled, the sound stronger than that of the Bewilderbeast's. "Wow," Sharp and Windwalker said in complete and totally amazement.

Drago had gone from freaking out to almost absolutely insane. **"Finish them!"** The Bewilderbeast, the pupils in its bloodshot eyes slit, and released thousands of gallons of frigid water right at them. Toothless however, was faster. He opened his mouth, and a spinning blast of green air came out. The two blasts connected, both stopping each other mid-air. But Toothless' was stronger, and pushed the water to the sides, turning to ice as it fell down back into the sea. The Bewilderbeast soon ran out of water, but Toothless was still going. The blast connected, knocking the large dragon down on its back. "Now how about he take this to the sky and see how I do up there," Toothless confidently said. Hiccup got on his back with no objection. Once he was on, Toothless took off faster than a person could blink.

Drago was absolutely furious, **"Don't Just Stand There! Release as Many Dragons as You Have Too! I Want Them Brought Down!"** Soldiers obeyed, not wanting to make the warlord angrier than he already was. Over twenty dragons were released from their prisons, and twelve got off their perches on the ice chunks, and the dragons released to fight the Riders turned their attention away from them, and focused on Hiccup and Toothless. They fired all kinds of blasts at the two, alongside the Bewilderbeast' icy blasts from the water, but no hit. In the air, this new power Toothless acquired had given him incredible speed, he was faster than he had ever been before. The armored dragons continued to attack, but no dice. Hiccup looked at them and smirked, only to realize a Monstrous Nightmare had gotten in front of Toothless. It was about to fire, only for a squawk and fire blast sound to come and hit the Nightmare first. Astrid and Stormfly flew next to the two, and Hiccup said. "What took you so long?" "Funny. So what's your plan?" "You get Sharpshot and Windwalker, and tell everyone to start finding a way out of this place. Toothless and I'll distract these guys." "You do realize that sounds like-" "Something stupid. No, 'something stupid' was calling out Drago. This is something crazy." "Now that's more like it," Toothless said, sounding like the twins in an explosive storage. The Night Fury sped up, leaving Astrid and Stormfly in the dust behind them.

"Come on girl, let's get the others." Stormfly circled back, well Astrid said, "Pack it up guys, we need to get out of here," as loud as she could. The other Riders and their dragons flew to her and waited for her to say something. "Tuff, you get Hiccup's dragons out of there. Snotlout, you and Fishlegs get Gobber. Ruff and I will see if we can create some kind of way out of here." "But my magic doesn't work here. If it did we would have gotten Hiccup out of here sooner!" "Well then try harder! Now come on, let's move!" The group decided not to make Astrid angry, that was never a good thing to do, and split up. "Hey chief, hate to break it up, but we're leaving," Tuff shouted as Torch flew towards the red headed Viking. Stoick heard Tuff's call, and gave Eret a punch in the face, and the Trapper fell over. Torch got close enough and grabbed the chief in his claws, while the Shadow and Trancemare did the same with the others.

Trappers were scattering around the deck of the ship, trying to find more dragons to release. One of them bumped into Norbert, and the Hysteric chief dropped the Dragon Root arrows he was carrying. "Would you get up," Dagur said, not in the mood for failure. "He grabbed one of the arrows, unaware of the object strung around it. It was a round amulet, a small trinket, with a round stone on the center. He loaded it into the crossbow, pointed it as Stormfly, and pulled the trigger. The arrow flew through the air, but Astrid had seen what Dagur was trying to do, and told Stormfly to move out of the way. The arrow instead hit a piece of ice, and the trinket coiled around it exploded. From the burst, a vortex appeared, similar to the one that started this mess. "Dagur, you loaded one of the pulsars into the crossbow!?" "How was I supposed to know that thing was one of your lame inventions?!"

As electricity crackled in the vortex, Hiccup flew Toothless closer. "Alright gang, looks like we found our way home." The Riders flew close, with the dragons flying closed behind. "You guys go, we'll handle these guys." "Are you crazy!?" "Yes, but that's who he is," Toothless complemented. "I say we listen to ta' lad. Besides, a' wan' ta' get out a' here," Gobber said, supporting Hiccup's crazy idea. "Don't worry, we'll be fine." Despite the reluctance, the Riders flew through, leaving Hiccup and Toothless to face down the horde of dragons. "You might want to hold on tight here," Toothless warned. Hiccup got a good grip on Toothless, and the dragon flew away from the horde. They followed after the two, but were unable to get close. When they were far away, Toothless pulled his wings in close, and he started spinning. A green wind started to spiral around him, turning him into a short of 'air-torpedo'. Toothless turned back towards the horde, and rammed right into the center. The strange wind covering him dispersed, and blew the dragons back. The armor covering them shined silver, and burst off of them, their eyes turning back to normal. Those that could flew into the vortex, leaving the Core and Drago's power. "Well bud, I think we've overstayed our welcome." "No Kidding." Toothless flew straight in the vortex, the surge of dark magic closing behind him.

* * *

 _Healer's Hut, Berk_

The Riders took Sharp and Windwalker to Gothi, who was able to remove the arrows. Luckily nothing important was hit, but they wouldn't fly for at least a week. The teens were outside while the injured dragons slept. "And then he said the armor disappeared and they left," Astrid told the others about what Hiccup saw before he and Toothless left the Core. "How is that possible? Everyone knows when a dragon is exhausted, they turned into their Krystals, even the armor they wear goes with them, it doesn't just vanish," Fishlegs wondered.

"I believe we can answer that," came Patience's voice. The Shadow's Krystal separated itself from Fish's lobster claw necklace, and hovered in front of the five teens. "It is the power of the Dragon Blade that causes this strange phenomenon to occur." "Not following. Okay, so the sword, can somehow break magic and get rid of armor? Yeah, Ruff's gonna need this be dumbed down so she can understand it." "What we mean is that it is the power of the sword that allows Toothless to break the armor," Innocence added on. "The sword is able to cut through anything," this time Arrogance spoke, "Including the dark power Drago uses to corrupt his dragons." "That makes sense," Astrid said, remembering a similar thing happened with the Bullrougher that Toothless defeated when a similar event occurred. "It happened before, but it didn't seem like anything important." "Well, this is good news if you ask me," Snotlout said, barely having paid attention to the conversation. "Now, all we have to do is have Toothless keep doing stuff like this, and BOOM, no more dragon army." "It's not that easy Snotface." "Snot _lout._ " "Really, you might want to get that mucus coming out of your nose cleaned up," Arrogance taunted, and Snotlout gave the rock an angry look. "Those powers will only appear when Hiccup does something extraordinary." "Case in point, today, Hiccup stood up to Drago Bludvist, the man every dragon and Viking fear, while apologizing to someone he hurt," Patience paused, "He still has the abilities, but the cannot came at will. Not yet at least."

"Hey, where's Hiccup," Ruff asked, realizing he and Toothless weren't with them.

* * *

 _Berk Forge_

Hiccup wrapped the piece of cloth around Toothless' left paw. It was a minor injury, so he didn't have to go to Gothi's like the other two, and Hiccup just wanted to spend time with his cat. "What changed your mind?" "What changed my mind about what?" "About apologizing, what caused you to change your mind," Toothless asked again. "Hiccup sat down, and positioned himself so he would be perfectly aligned with Toothless. "Sharpshot told me a story. Long story short, I realized I should have given you the chance to explain your reasons. But what really sealed the deal was when I saw Drago take a dragon under his command," Toothless looked at him in shock, "Yeah, turns out its much worse in person." Hiccup shuddered at the memory of the Nightmare that Drago forcibly enrolled into his army.

"For a moment, I thought I was just as bad as him." "Okay," Toothless said, "Never say that again." "I'm serious. How many things have I forced you to do that you didn't want to do? I never considered your opinions." Toothless slid his head under Hiccup's arm, and placed it on the boys lap. "Well, to be fair you didn't know how awesome I really was when you did," he said, reminding Hiccup that Toothless had only talked to him for a few weeks, "And I should have been a bit more obvious." "Why do you want to stay bud?"

Toothless took a breath, it was never easy telling someone about a hard time or memory. But, he stayed strong, and told Hiccup the truth about his past, or, lack of a past. "Why didn't you ever say anything?" "Because you have so much going on that I didn't want to add something on top of it," Toothless looked down, now that Hiccup knew the truth, he didn't know what to do. "Well, then we've got to stay, you deserve a chance to find your family," Hiccup said, getting off the bench. "No," "Toothless said, "You're right about one thing, your mom," Toothless stopped himself mid-sentence. "Seems like we're always going back to the topic of your mom, doesn't it?" "Yeah," Hiccup bent down so he could look Toothless in the eyes, and said, "How about we just worry about staying or leaving after we stop Drago." Toothless nodded, that was a plan he could fully support.

"And we really should stop keeping secrets like this from each other, bud." "I vote yes to honesty." The two gave a laugh, now that all this chaos was over, they could finally just relax." "Speaking of honesty, I want your opinion. While I was on that ship, I heard Dagur say something about one of Norbert's inventions. It was a crossbow that turned into a sword." "Well that sounds just plain stupid," Toothless said as he laughed at the thought. "Yeah, but what about a _shield_ that turned into a _crossbow_?" "That sounds like a crazy Hiccup idea. I wouldn't have it any other way." Hiccup smiled, glad to have the support of his best friend. "Great, you stay here, I'll go see if Gobber could help out." Hiccup left the Forge, leaving Toothless alone.

Although he agreed with the honesty policy, he wasn't being truthful entirely. There was still the secret about his mother, that see was a Dragon Rider from the Archipelago, and that she and Cloudjumper knew all along that Hiccup was the Final Rider. But the biggest thing on his mind was what Cloud said in that weird dream, vision, thing, about keeping Hiccup from getting close to the chief. He had always wondered who Hiccup's father was, it was one of the few things Valka and Cloud had never told him. He had always thought that Hiccup's father was just a simple man from Earth. But now, he was starting to wonder. " _Is it possible that, Stoick is Hiccup's father?"_ He was too busy wrapped in thought to notice the red light watching him from the window fly away.

* * *

The light traveled miles over the open sea, flying fast as sound itself. But this light was not just an ordinary light, it was the light of a fairy, one of the eight that helped in the war against Drago three hundred years ago. It soon arrived at its destination, Dragon Island. The fairy flew into the cave the Hiccup had been lured into when the Berk Dragon Riders had visited the island. The cavern was still the same as before, pictures on the walls telling the story of how the gem on the hilt of the Dragon Blade came to the island, yet there was something different. The Shattered Sight Mirror relic, at the back of the cave, it was fixed. It now resembled a simple mirror, no crack or figure print on the glass. The fairy flew right at the mirror, and disappeared into it.

When it came out, it was in a strange room. The walls glowed with different colors, book shelves and tables levitated in the air, doors floating around, the room was simply magic. "How did it go," came the voice of another fairy, one who's light glowed black and white, who appeared to be moving as if it was dancing. "Our message was delivered, and now the Final Rider and his Night Fury have unlocked the Power of Wind." "Great," said a blue glowing fairy with an attitude, "So, can we please relax, you guys have been freaking out about this happening for three days straight." "Hey," said a yellow light, looking up from the book it was reading, "You know as well as we do that fairy law state that-" "If we get involved with human problems, we must stay involved until the end of the conflict. I KNOW! You remind us every day," the blue light said, the glow changing from blue to burning red. "Can we please just stay positive," this time a purple glowing fairy got involved, a cheerfulness in its voice, "Now the Final Rider is one step closer to stopping Drago once and for all." "Indeed." A fairy colored as pink as a rose said, sipping a cup of tea. "Either way it makes our job easier," said the magenta fairy who was sowing a matching dress on a mannequin.

"The girls are right," came the voice of the final fairy, his color being a dark, murky green. "Point is everything is moving along swell." "What about the Dragon Hunters who attacked the isle of the Bog Burglars, they weren't in your predictions," said the magenta fairy. "Well, I can see the future, but not every possible outcome," the green fairy defended himself, muttering "diva" under his breath. "Speaking of predictions," the red fairy said facing the green one, "What about your other one, prediction, I mean?" The psychic fairy 'hummed', "No, prediction stands. The next time the Final Rider and his friends visit this island, we will meet with them. It is then he will find out the truth." The other fairies stopped what they were doing, and turned to their mysterious friend. "Are you sure," the yellow one asked, sounding worried. "Yes I am certain. _'When the descendant of destiny is captured by the warrior of lighting, the chosen one shall learn of his lineage, and the eight mystics will reveal to him their secret.'_ Was that not clear enough.

When we meet the Final Rider, we will tell him, that we fairies, were the ones who sent his mother, to the Dragonless Land."

* * *

 **Author's Note: And the plot thickens!**

 **1** **ST** **, Opinion**

 **Like I said before, this is one of the toughest chapters I have had to write yet. But it has also been one of my favorites. As long and hard as it was to write, I was able to get a lot of good parts in here.**

 **2) Notes**

 **6} Got that name from Rise of Berk. It's supposed to be a different dragon from the Skrill Dagur captured, but I had to name him something.**

 **3** **rd** **, Announcements**

 **Nothing much really, but two weeks left until the next set of Race to the Edge episodes. Let me just say, I was starting to go crazy waiting so long. Also, tomorrow is my birthday. So, that's really, all I've got today.**

 **Hopefully updating will be back to normal with my summer break starting in a few days, pray that I'm able to do the one/twice a month updates regularly.**

 **How to Train your Dragon is not mine.**

 **Reviews are appreciated.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **This chapter was posted June 10, 2016**

 **It is also 15,593 words long, the longest chapter in this story that had been written so far.**


	11. Chapter 9 Preview

**HTTYD is the property of DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell A.K.A not me.**

* * *

 _Chapter 9: Treachery_

"Welcome to Outcast Island." The Hooligans got off their ships and walked onto the home of the Outcast tribe. Across the harbor, ships from the other tribes had s cast anchor, their sails blowing in the strong wind. Over by the cliffs, a small herd of wild dragons gazed at the people leaving the ships, each clothes different from the ones they'd seen on the Outcasts. Gray clouds covered the sky, but there wasn't going to be a storm, Thor was in a good mood today apparently.

"Stoick," came the gruff voice of the Outcast chief, Alvin the Treacherous. The two grown Vikings shook hands, "Good ta' see ya'." "It's good to see you too Alvin." The two had been friends since childhood, and even though they had taken different paths in life, their friendship remained strong. "I see everyone else has arrived as well." "Yeah, they all wanted ta' start preparin' for tha' big event. Especially Bertha and tha' Bogs." "How long have they been saying they're going to win this year," Stoick asked, already knowing the answer. "Eh, since they landed," Alvin said, rubbing the side of his forehead. "Darn tribe always givin' everybody a headache."

Snotlout payed no heed to the people around him. He didn't pay attention to his chief introducing Hiccup to Alvin, he had no focus on the others talking around him, and certainly no care for the sounds of dragons in the air. Snotlout Jorgenson was only focusing on winning the Dragon Training Competition today, and winning back the glory for Berk. His father had made it clear that it was ' _come back home with a win, or don't come back at all_ ,' and Spitelout was no doubt going to keep his word. Sometimes, it seem liked everything he did for his father wasn't enough, and he had to go on a life and limb risking quest to get even a simple 'Good job son,' from the man. Over the past day and a half, Spitelout had pushed Snotlout to his limits, even now he felt as if he was going to collapse. But he wouldn't because he was not going to lose to something like 'tiredness.'

"AAAALLLLVVVVIIIINNNN!" Snotlout's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shouting. The only person it could have been was the Mildew, the Viking who left Berk for the Outcasts. No one complained though, they were happy that the yak-face blob of Nightmare spit was someone else's problem. "Man, Mildew is in a bad mood today," Tuffnut said, being captain obvious. "How is that different from every other day of the year?" "Good point sis? Come to think of it, does he even know how to be happy? Because, I for one think that a life without joy is a life unlived."

"I don't get it," Fishlegs questioned, "Why is it you guys are crazier than a Speed Stinger on a sugar high one minute and philosophical the next." "Oh, that's easy," Ruffnut said with a grin. "We're actually pretty smart, we just act crazy so that people won't expect stuff from us." "That's actually a pretty decent idea." "Ha," Snotlout laughed, "You two are pretty smart! Next you'll be telling me Astrid doesn't want to be the future Mrs. Jorgenson." "I do not!" "She could do so much better," Fishlegs muttered.

* * *

 _Other side of Outcast Island_

Unknown to the tribes, the Grimborn Dragon Hunters landed right on the island. "Excellent. Now, once the rest of the fleet arrives and surrounds the island, we will make our move during the end of the Dragon Training competition, right before they announce the winner," Viggo said as his men began to leave ship. "I say that we should from the westernmost point of the village, strike from the high ground." "That maybe a good move, but gaining the high ground would also leave us exposed, with the terrain allowing the other opponents to easily strike at a breach in our line. Sometimes, brother, you have to give up an advantage to win," the younger Grimborn said "Sirs," one of the men said, gaining the brothers' attention, "Someone wants to see you." "Let them come."

The soldier stepped aside, and a red cloaked wearing figure appeared almost instantly. "Right on time. I expected no less." Ryker gave a small sneer, their employer's constant use of magic tended to get on his nerves. "Don't give me that face mister, or it's a week as a cactus for you," the figure said, before giving a cackle. "Seriously, lighten up." "Believe me, he's good at hunting dragons, but not much when it comes down to everything else," Viggo added, causing his brother to growl in frustration. "Why are we even doing this if you already have Odin's Chalice," Ryker questioned.

Odin's Chalice was the Outcasts' tribal relic, able to temporarily increase the magical power of whoever drinks from its cup. Apart from this ability, almost no one else knows about it, because it was hidden in a place that only the Outcast chief and a few select others know where it is. "Believe me, if it was that simple, I wouldn't have called for this little invasion," the cloaked stranger said passively. "But, if I did just take it everyone would know I stole it. So, after the best Dragon Hunter known on Thor's green world, and his older brother, attack, the chalice will disappear amidst the chaos, and all the other important items we need will be stolen afterwards. Besides, I thought you wanted your revenge after that, 'Hiccup' of a Final Rider humiliated you on the last mission I sent you." Ryker, anger overwhelming him, moved to grab his sword in an attempt to attack, but instead he found his brother's hand clamped around his wrist.

"Will you excuse me and my brother for a moment?" "Of course. Besides I have some important business to attend to. See you after the attack." The person was enveloped in a swirl of red mist, and disappeared. Viggo removed his hand from his brother's wrist and looked at him with his constantly neutral expression. "What did I say about attacking the employer?" "You heard him bring up what happened on the Bog Burglar Island. I explicitly said that no one mentions it," Ryker said, trying to keep himself calm. "'Explicitly,' never thought I'd hear you say a word like that." "I'm serious Viggo, and why do we bother referring to that, crazy old psychopath," Ryker tried to think of a better word, but he couldn't, "as our employer if he's just another client?" "As I've said before, I find it amusing. And anyways, we don't have to like them, we just have to do what they ask. Once we've obtained everything they need, they will give us what we want."

" _Just because business has been slow doesn't mean we should be doing that lunatic's dirty work_ ," Ryker said in his mind. The whole reason they had taken up working for the red figure was because lately, the dragon hunting business was going through a bit of a hard time, between Drago Bludvist's attempts at escaping the Core with his Trappers working to capture dragons for his army and already existing competition with other hunters, even Viggo's incredible strategist skills couldn't guarantee them their catch. Then one day, their 'employer', walked into Viggo's tent out of nowhere, and gave them an offer that Viggo couldn't refuse. After that, the younger Grimborn became more intolerant of failure than ever, to the point that he was okay with throwing a disgraced soldier into a Whispering Death tunnel.

Unlike his brother, who saw everyone and everything as pieces of a game, Ryker understood the value of family and how powerful of a thing a familial bond was. He had always supported his brother, and allowed him to become the head of the Hunters instead of him, taking charge on the frontlines will Viggo commanded everything from the shadows. But, thanks to his 'No one's Irreplaceable' philosophy, the younger Grimborn was openly mocking and disrespectful to Ryker, and always one to poke holes in his plans. In the past, Ryker had never second guessed his brother and leader, but that has been changing ever since 'The Employer' had come into their lives. Now, the two brothers were constantly in an aggressive mood to one another, but Viggo knew that no matter how much he wanted to attack, no matter how much Ryker wanted to get rid of him, his older brother wouldn't. Because Ryker would never hurt family.

"Once The Employer's job with us is finished, we will have enough money and supplies to keep our business alive for decades. If we want our prize, we must be patient and supportive. Do you understand, or am I going to have to remind you again?" "Yes," Ryker muttered. "Speak up please, I couldn't hear you," Viggo said, purposely trying to test his brother's temper. "I understand Viggo." "Excellent. Now let us start getting everything ready, because in a few hours, not only will we have succeeded in bringing the Outcast to their knees, stolen an ancient Relic, and obtain one of the most powerful stones in exist, but we will also get out of this with more dragons then we know what to do with, including a Night Fury."

* * *

 _Outcast Arena_

Inside the Outcast training ring, youth from all of the tribes prepared for the competition. Well, most of them were anyway. "So than I said, 'How do you get a one armed Berkian out of a tree? You wave!'" Tuffnut laughed at his anecdote, alongside two the Meathead boys, Clueless and Wartihog. Those weren't their real names of course, everyone called them that because Wartihog was going through the 'awkward phase' a little later than most people, and Clueless literally forgot his own name.

"That's funny. Why is that," said Clueless. The incredibly dim-witted Viking wore a typical helmet, blue tunic with a black leather vest and gray pants with matching boots. For accessories, he had small bands around his wrists, and two dull metal shoulder pads. One of his brown eyes was covered by a purple tattoo. Wartihog rolled his eyes, placing a head on his face. The smell teen had a sleeveless green tunic with matching trousers, and white boots with brown cuffs. His red hair was hidden with a long horned helmet that curved backwards, a fur collar on his tunic, and wrist guards that almost reached his elbows, yet the most noticeable thing about his appearance was the massive pimple on his nose, and the stench of a wet boar. "He's saying when the person waves back, he'll fall out of the tree." "Oh, now I get it," Clueless said with a hearty laugh. "Wait, why did the person go up the tree in the first place?" "Hahaha," Tuffnut laughed as he wiped under his eye. "You really are a riot Clueless." "Riot," Clueless jumped and hid behind the log he was sitting on. "Where? Mom said that when I riot breaks out I should, um. Don't tell me I got this. What did she tell me to do? What were we talking about again?"

* * *

 **A/N: You may be wondering why it is I have decided to stop right here. Well, that's because this is all I've got.**

 **As of right now, this story is going on Hiatus! (HUGE GASP OF HORROR AND SHOCK COMES FROM THE AUDIENCE)**

 **Before you get into a frenzy, let me explain. After I finished writing the last chapter, my writing hit a dead point. It was the longest, hardest one I've written so far, and after you get something incredible and amazing (not to toot my own horn), you get something less than amazing. I had to rewrite this thing like four times, and this is all I've got so far. Let me make this clear, I have no plans on abandoning or forgetting this story, I've brainstormed up a lot of ideas, even to the End Game of it all. But, with so much to sort through and plan, I need sometime to think the rest of this story through, and to keep you people from going nuclear on my, I thought the least I could do was give you guys a couple paragraphs worth of this chapter. To reiterate, I'm taking time off from this story so that I can figure things out. Because there's so much, I won't know how long this hiatus will last, so I decided to give you this whole chapter/note so that you (The Readers) could get something good out of all of this.**

 **Now, with that being said, I'm not leaving fanfiction. I may be taking a break from this story, but I've also got a bunch more ideas for other stories, and I also got a family reunion all next week and I've got a summer job, my plate is full. Once again, so sorry for the lack of updates, I've got a bunch more stuff coming up so this is on hold.  
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 **Okay, now that this is done, the last thing I have to say is thank you guys for being so understanding.**

 **PurifierofChaos131000**

 **Posted/ August 2nd, 2016**


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